By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A kidnapped American pastor Josh Sullivan was rescued in a coordinated police operation in Gqeberha on Tuesday.
Sullivan was kidnapped last Thursday during a sermon and was held at a safe house in KwaMagxaki.
Sullivan arrived in South Africa with his family from Tennessee in November 2018, according to his personal website.
“We are looking to finish language school soon and plant a church to the Xhosa speaking people,” he writes on his site.
Sullivan has been on the staff at Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, since February of 2012, according to the website.
Hawks spokesperson, Avele Fumba, says the operation followed verified intelligence and a coordinated team comprising the Serious Organised Crime Investigation team of the Hawks, Anti-Gang Unit, Crime Intelligence, Tactical Response Team, and other key law enforcement partners moved swiftly to the identified location.
Fumba says when officers approached the house, they observed a vehicle on the premises with people inside.
He says as they approached, the suspects tried to flee and opened fire on police. The officers responded with tactical precision, leading to a high-intensity shootout.
Three suspects were shot and killed.
Fumba added that the victim was found in the same vehicle from which the suspects launched their attack and was miraculously unharmed.
Kidnappings, including by criminal gangs that target people for whom large ransoms can be demanded, have been increasing in recent years.
There were more than 17,000 kidnappings in South Africa in the 2023-2024 financial year, an 11-percent increase over the previous year, according to police statistics.
South Africa has also been plagued by escalating gun violence. Each day, 33 people are killed by guns in South Africa, according Gun Free South Africa.