Estate agent Johan Kotze says he is thankful to be alive after a viewing with a supposed buyer turned into a terrifying kidnapping that left him drugged, abandoned in Pretoria and robbed of his bakkie.
The 56‑year‑old Bela‑Bela agent was lured by a man who claimed to be a desperate cancer patient looking to buy a smallholding near the town. What began as a routine appointment ended with Kotze in intensive care for two days after being forced to swallow what he describes as date‑rape drugs.
Police later found his damaged 2024 silver Ford Ranger SuperCab abandoned near Winterveldt, but no one has been arrested. The case has been transferred to Bela‑Bela for further investigation.
An estate agent from Bela‑Bela was drugged, kidnapped and robbed of his pickup truck by a man who claimed he was a desperate cancer patient.
Kotze considers himself fortunate to have survived after he went to show a smallholding outside the town to a certain “Gerhard Pieter” last Monday.
The day quickly turned into a nightmare. Kotze ultimately spent two days in the intensive care unit after being dosed with a date‑rape drug, which affected his kidneys and liver.
The ‘cancer patient’ buyer
Kotze says he and “Gerhard” had originally arranged to view the property on Saturday, 31 January, together with the man’s daughter. But on the morning before the appointment, the supposed buyer phoned to say he was not feeling well.
“Kotze says he and ‘Gerhard’ had arranged to view a property outside the town on Saturday, 31 January, together with ‘Gerhard’s’ daughter, but the man called the morning before the appointment and asked if they could reschedule because he is a cancer patient and wasn’t feeling well due to the medication.
“We then postponed the appointment to Monday morning, but on Sunday night, I received a message from the man saying his daughter had to go to Pretoria early on Monday morning and he might not have transport.
“So I arranged to pick him up, and then we would drive together to the smallholding if his daughter wasn’t back in time for the appointment,” he told City Press’ sister publication Rapport.
“I picked him up in the parking area in front of the Eskort meat shop, and that’s actually where I first suspected something was wrong.
There was something strange, and he was on a call as he got into my pickup. I could hear it was a man on the other end, but when he hung up, he told me he had just quickly spoken with his daughter.
Johan Kotze”
Despite his unease, Kotze continued with the appointment and drove the man out to the property.
Gun to his ribs on a farm road
Once they reached the smallholding, the man said he wanted to see the exact boundaries.
“‘We then drove to the property, and once there, he asked me to show him the corner pegs of the property. I drove from one corner peg to the other and showed him.
“When I turned to drive to the property’s entrance gate, he asked how far the house was from the road. I pointed out where the house was, and he then ordered me to stop.
The next moment he said, ‘Johan, I have a firearm on me,’ and he took out his gun and pressed it against my ribs. He then started issuing instructions. I drove about 50m and he again told me to stop. That’s when he said we weren’t going to look at the property today.
Johan Kotze”
According to Kotze, the man, whom he believes is in his fifties, then made his intentions clear.
“According to Kotze, the man, whom he believes is in his fifties, then said to him: ‘You realise you’re going to lose your pickup today, right?’ Kotze drives a silver 2024 Ford Ranger SuperCab.”
From there, the man appeared to be coordinating with others.
“‘We drove to the junction with the N1 highway, where he made me stop again. He then spoke to someone on the phone and said: ‘I’ve got him.’’”
Kotze says his kidnapper told him they had to meet two men in Pretoria.
Forced to swallow pills
The situation grew even more frightening when the man produced pills and demanded that Kotze take them.
“‘He said I must now get into the passenger seat and take two pills so that I would sleep when we reached the buyer of the pickup.
Johan Kotze
“He told me he could almost guarantee I would have a heart attack if I took the two pills – but according to him, the two men would also make sure I never woke up again if I wasn’t asleep by the time we arrived. He was aggressive the whole time, and I could see he was on edge.’”
Kotze says, based on what he heard, the man expected to be paid R30 000 for the bakkie, and the two other men would move the vehicle across the border.
“‘Kotze says, as far as he could gather, the man would get R30 000 for the bakkie, and the other two men would then take the vehicle across the border.
When we reached Hammanskraal, he forced me to swallow the two pills with juice. I considered keeping the pills in my cheek, but decided rather to cooperate. He spoke to them regularly on the phone and, now and then, asked me how I was feeling.
Johan Kotze’”
As the drugs took effect, Kotze’s condition deteriorated.
“‘My head started spinning and my legs were a bit numb. At one point I realised we were somewhere in Pretoria, but I can’t really remember much of it.
“It sounded as if the two guys on the other end of the line weren’t keeping their side of the agreement, and the man who kidnapped me then said the same thing was happening now as had happened the previous time. It seemed to me it wasn’t the first time he’d done something like this.
He also told me at one stage that he wasn’t doing this because he enjoyed it, but because he was a desperate cancer patient.
Johan Kotze’”
Kotze says the man did not look ill at all.
“‘He looked quite healthy to me, though, and he’s a fairly big guy. He’s tall and well built. For someone in his fifties he looks really healthy.’”
Dumped in an industrial area
Eventually, the kidnapper decided to get rid of him.
“‘He eventually threw me out of the pickup somewhere in an industrial area. I could hardly stand – my legs were like jelly. I lay down next to the road and he drove off.
I lay there a few minutes, got up and fell down again, but then a little later I saw a side street a short distance ahead that was fairly busy, and I staggered toward it.
Johan Kotze’”
Help arrived purely by chance.
“‘By chance, the first car I saw was a police pickup, which I signalled to pull over and help me,’ Kotze says.”
The officer took him to Akasia Police Station and called an ambulance. The pills had affected his kidneys and liver, and he was admitted to the intensive care unit.
Photos show the bakkie badly damaged, with the rear window smashed.
“Johan Koetze’s bakkie was badly dented, and the rear window was smashed.
Supplied”
Bakkie recovered, but no arrests
“At the police station, the police informed a friend of mine in Pretoria that I’d been robbed, and within an hour of my tracking service learning that my pickup had been stolen, it was located near Winterveld and Mabopane. However, it was badly dented and the rear window was smashed.
Unfortunately, no one was arrested. The vehicle was apparently abandoned when it was found, but it was strange. My phone was stolen, the jack had been removed, and the key rings from my keys were gone, but the keys were left in the pickup.
Johan Kotze”
Kotze was discharged on the Wednesday after the incident. The next day, he went with Pretoria police to inspect his recovered vehicle. By the following Wednesday, he was back at work, showing a property to a client for the first time since the kidnapping.
“The trauma, however, means his work now ‘feels like a bit of a challenge’.”
‘He messed up my trust in people’
Despite the ordeal, Kotze says he feels physically well, but his outlook on his job and clients has changed.
“‘I feel fit as a fiddle and healthy, and I sleep well. I have a very calm personality, but I will definitely take precautions going forward.
“It’s a pity, because I’ve been in the industry for 20 years and nothing like this has ever happened to me. Now I share clients’ details with my colleagues, and I make a point of immediately sharing someone’s vehicle details and registration number with my colleagues as soon as I stop at a property.
The man really messed up my trust in people a bit, and I’m now a little sceptical when someone wants to meet me somewhere.
Johan Kotze’”
He says he had broken his usual rule by offering the man a lift.
“‘Normally, I wouldn’t even pick someone up for a viewing, but I accommodated the man because I knew what his circumstances were. I will definitely be more careful in future.’”
Police investigation continues
Colonel Mavela Masondo, a Gauteng police spokesperson, confirmed that a case has been opened.
“Colonel Mavela Masondo, a Gauteng police spokesperson, says a case of kidnapping and the theft of a vehicle has been opened. The case has since been transferred to the police station in Bela-Bela and is still under investigation.”
For now, Kotze is trying to rebuild his sense of safety while police attempt to track down the man who posed as a cancer patient and turned a simple farm viewing into a planned kidnapping and vehicle theft.
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