Heroic Cape Town officer reflects on 26 years since dramatic kidnapping rescue

Traffic officer Andre Rautenbach returned eight-month-old Brett, who was kidnapped from his Camps Bay home on May 3, 2000. Retired traffic officer Andre Rautenbach, who 26years ago rescued eight-month-old Brett who was kidnapped from his Camps Bay family home, says he would do it again and prayed that his story inspires Capetonians to care and “be obedient to God”. years ago rescued eight-month-old Brett who was kidnapped from his Camps Bay family home, says he would do it again and prayed that his story inspires Capetonians to care and “be obedient to God”.

In the dramatic act of bravery by the Cape Town traffic officer that captured the heart of the nation, Rautenbach traced and found Brett in the Bo-Kaap. Sunday, May 3, marked the 26th anniversary of the event. Earlier this year, he launched his bookFifteen Minutes That Changed Everything: Darkness Leads to Ultimate Glory,which documents the events and accounts from the kidnapped Brett, his parents, and their reunion.

Rautenbach, who worked inMitchells Plain at the time and now lives in Kraaifontein, said his main aim was to return Brett to his parents. Mitchells Plain at the time and now lives in Kraaifontein, s aid his main aim was to return Brett to his parents. “I did not do it for fame or glory.

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At the time, I thought about myself as a parent of two children, aged two and six, and what I would do if it were my children,” he said. The minute he took Brett out of the vehicle found in Bo-Kaap, he bonded with the baby. “I think of him as a son from another mother, and he regards me as a father,” he said.

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