South African police have rescued an American pastor who was abducted last week while he was conducting a sermon, as kidnappings have soared over the last decade in the country.
Three unidentified suspects were killed during the “high-intensity shootout” on Tuesday in which Joshua Sullivan, a missionary from Tennessee, was rescued, the Hawks, the police unit that deals with serious crime in South Africa, said in a statement.
Kidnappings in the country have more than trebled in the past decade, according to police statistics, with 17,061 recorded in the year to March 2024. South Africa, one of the world’s most unequal countries, also has one of the world’s highest murder rates, with more than 27,000 that year, 50% higher than a decade earlier.
Sullivan was seized on Thursday night while he was preaching at the Fellowship Baptist church, where he had been a missionary since 2018 in the township of Motherwell outside the city of Gqeberha in Eastern Cape province.
Four gunmen stormed the church, stealing two mobile phones from congregation members before taking Sullivan. A few hours later, his truck was found abandoned.
The kidnappers were eventually tracked to a house in KwaMagxaki, about a 20-minute drive from the church, across the Swartkops River. Suspects inside a vehicle opened fire while attempting to flee, the police said.
The Hawks statement said: “The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack. Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition.”
Sullivan’s mother, Tonya Morton Rinker, said in a Facebook post: “My Baby is free! Joshua was rescued earlier today!! He is home with Meagan and the kids … Thank you for your support and prayers.”
An earlier post by Rinker described Sullivan as a “big-hearted gentle giant”. It said the 34-year-old had first travelled to South Africa with his wife, Meagan, for six months in 2015, before returning as “church-planting” missionaries and becoming fluent in Xhosa, the most common language in the Eastern Cape. The couple have four children and have “taken in two Xhosa children”.
A report by the Institute of Security Studies, a local thinktank, found 44% of kidnappings were during vehicle hijackings to extort money quickly. Another 22% were tied to robberies, while only 5% were for ransom. It was not immediately clear what the motive for Sullivan’s kidnapping was.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
