Impempe

Jerry Boshoga

Pretoria-based farmer, VIP protection business owner and tender entrepreneur — kidnapped in November 2024 and linked to an alleged R60-million-to-R10-million ransom plot and underworld hit

Outcome

Missing — as of mid-2026 SAPS continues to investigate his disappearance as an active cross-border case; national police have repeatedly denied viral social-media claims that his body has been found

Role

Farmer, VIP protection company owner and tender entrepreneur

Sector

Private security, agriculture and public-sector tendering; alleged adjacency to organised drug manufacturing and distribution networks

Evidence Status

SABC News and Cutting Edge reporting on the kidnapping timeline, ransom escalation and torture videos; Mike Bolhuis Specialised Security Services case files on digital forensics and the alleged police-payroll dimension; Madlanga Commission testimony on the R1 million hit and syndicate links; leaked WhatsApp messages; forensic tracking of Boshoga’s phone switched to flight mode and wiped; a torn white sheet recovered in a police raid matching material visible in ransom videos

Commission Reference

Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System; SAPS multidisciplinary investigation with Hawks and National Kidnapping Task Team involvement; Interpol cross-border tracking of Mozambican suspects.

 

Summary

Jerry Boshoga is a 46-year-old Pretoria businessman whose portfolio spans a commercial farm, a VIP protection service company and lucrative government tenders. On 18 November 2024 he attended a meeting at a KFC in Rooihuiskraal, Centurion — the only day he travelled without his usual security detail — and was abducted after leaving his brother in the car. Five hours later he phoned his brother confirming the kidnapping. The abductors initially demanded R60 million, later reduced the figure to R25 million and then R10 million, but the family said it did not have liquid funds. Over the following months graphic torture videos were sent to the family, showing Boshoga pleading for his life and claiming his eyes had been removed. Independent investigations by Mike Bolhuis’ Specialised Security Services and testimony before the Madlanga Commission have placed Boshoga inside alleged drug manufacturing and distribution networks dating back to 2012, with claims that he owed up to R20 million to syndicates. Tender tycoon and alleged crime boss Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala has been identified as a primary suspect; a torn white sheet found during a police raid at his premises matched material in the ransom videos, and leaked WhatsApp messages suggested a R1 million hit had been placed on Boshoga months before he vanished. The case docket was repeatedly moved between police stations, the Hawks and the National Kidnapping Task Team, while forensic tracking showed Boshoga’s phone was switched to flight mode and its location history wiped on the day of the abduction. Because of the cross-border sophistication of the operation, the National Police Commissioner brought in Interpol to trace Mozambican nationals suspected of assisting the syndicate. As of mid-2026 SAPS states that Boshoga has not been located, alive or deceased, and national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe has consistently dismissed viral reports that his body has been found.

Sources