The South African non-governmental organization (NGO) Missing Children South Africa warned today that the crime of abduction is on the rise in South Africa.

Bianca van Aswegen, the national coordinator of the South African NGO, which works with the South African Police Service (SAPS) on cases of missing persons in the country, told the local press that kidnapping incidents "are increasing daily" in South Africa.

"We have parental abductions, kidnappings for ransom, we have human trafficking," the head of Missing Children South Africa (MCSA) told South African radio Cape Talk in Cape Town, where a 6-year-old boy was abducted early Wednesday morning on his way to school in a suburb of the South African parliamentary capital.

In Bianca van Aswegen's view, the increase in kidnappings for ransom and human trafficking have increased in the country since the 2020 confinement against covid-19.

"They have been increasing because of poverty and unemployment," the MCSA national coordinator pointed out.

According to News to the Minute, the boy Shanawaaz Asghar, of Pakistani origin, whose name and photo was widely reported in the press and alerted on social media, was kidnapped by six armed suspects outside his home in Kensington, a suburb of Cape Town, on his way to school, according to South African police.

The hijackers used a getaway vehicle with fake license plates, according to South African media which published images of the car.

No arrests have been made so far, and the motive for the kidnapping is unknown.

On Wednesday, South African police launched a manhunt after the abduction.

The head of the local Western Cape Community Safety and Police Oversight structure, Reagen Allen, said today that the number of kidnapping incidents in the Western Cape province "is alarming."

The Mitchells Plain and Gugulethu areas recorded an increase in kidnappings to the tune of 122% and 100%, respectively, the official said, adding that "criminals are using innocent children as pawns."

South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world. According to police statistics, the number of kidnappings more than doubled in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period last year, with Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, and North West provinces being the worst affected.