A security expert thinks one of the reasons kidnappers target foreign business owners or employees in South Africa is that they know that some of them are here illegally.

Some parts of the country have seen a rise in such incidents in recent months.

In Cape Town, a foreign national shop assistant was kidnapped in Kuils River on Wednesday, apparently for a R2 million ransom.

A security expert at the Institute for Security Studies, Willem Els said in most cases, the kidnappings are unreported because some victims are undocumented migrants who fear being exposed.

Els said in some cases, the kidnappings are carried out from within.

“You’ve got within your communities especially your Bangladeshi, your Pakistanis, your Ethiopians, your Somali groupings, they’ve got a very close-knit community and sometimes if some of them step out of line they’re also being targeted with these kidnappings for ransom for instance to punish them.”