The Bishop of Zululand was abducted and robbed by gunmen on 16 January 2026 as he was driving alone on the highway between Empangeni and Eshowe in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. According to local reporting the Rt. Rev. Victor Mnculwane was ambushed by armed men, forced into the trunk of his Toyota SUV and driven away before being robbed and released in the forest.  The assailants reportedly made off with valuables and left him traumatised but alive, in what police classify as an aggravated robbery and kidnapping rather than a targeted assassination attempt. 

This was the bishop’s second armed hijacking in the diocese, underlining how clergy move and minister in the same insecure public space as their parishioners.  The attack fits a broader pattern in which pastors and churches – perceived as soft targets likely to have vehicles, phones and cash offerings on hand – are increasingly caught up in South Africa’s violent crime economy.

Across South Africa there has been a marked rise in incidents where pastors and congregations are robbed, hijacked or kidnapped at or around places of worship.  In one widely reported 2025 incident in Mpumalanga, armed men stormed a midweek service, held worshippers at gunpoint, robbed them of vehicles and phones, and kidnapped nine congregants and the pastor before they were later found abandoned in a bushy area.

In the Eastern Cape, an American missionary, Josh Sullivan, was abducted mid-sermon in Gqeberha and held for several days until a police operation resulted in his rescue and the death of several suspects during a shootout.  Analysts note that some criminal groups see high-profile pastors or church leaders as attractive kidnap targets for ransom in a struggling economy, particularly when they are associated with visible assets or perceived church wealth.

KwaZulu-Natal remains one of South Africa’s most violent provinces, consistently accounting for around 20% of all murders nationwide despite recent modest improvements in some categories.  Policing precincts such as Inanda, Umlazi, Plessislaer, Chatsworth, Phoenix, Pinetown and Durban Central regularly rank among the worst in the country for contact crimes including murder, assault and aggravated robbery.

Recent quarterly crime statistics show that while there has been a reported national decline in some serious crimes, KZN still struggles with high levels of assault, attempted murder, armed robbery and sexual offences, alongside increases in kidnappings.  Provincial opposition figures and community safety advocates argue that gaps in visible policing, intelligence-led operations and by-law enforcement leave communities – including church leaders travelling long rural routes – exposed to repeat victimisation.

For the Diocese of Zululand and the wider Anglican Church of Southern Africa, the bishop’s abduction is both a pastoral and prophetic moment: a senior shepherd has endured the same fear and vulnerability daily experienced by parishioners in taxis, on farms and on township streets.  Church leaders are likely to face growing pressure to review travel protocols, invest in basic security training and work more closely with community policing forums, without retreating from ministry in high-risk areas.

At the same time, the incident sharpens the church’s long-standing call for a more just and effective public order: better-resourced policing, stronger action against organised crime and corruption, and urgent socio‑economic reforms to address the desperation that feeds South Africa’s violent underground economy.