A 29-year-old woman accused of "faking a kidnapping" was denied bail in the Lenasia Magistrate's Court on Monday.
Police spokesperson Captain Hector Netshivhodza said Lerato Mosia has been charged with feigning an abduction after she went missing on June 9.
It is alleged that police found her "relaxing" at her boyfriend's house in Springs on the East Rand on June 22.
"At about midnight on Friday, the police found the lady who faked her kidnapping, safe with no injuries, at the boyfriend's house along Majola Street in Springs," Netshivhodza said.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the 26-year old boyfriend had been arrested but was later released.
He did not appear in court on Monday as police are still investigating.
"At this point, there is no information proving and suggesting that [the boyfriend] was involved in the feigning of the kidnapping, but we are still investigating," Mjonondwane said.
Mjonondwane added that Mosia remained in custody pending further investigations into her alleged "faked" kidnapping.
According to Netshivhodza, police will continue with investigations and once they have concluded, a docket will be taken back to court.
According to reports in Sowetan, the boyfriend had allegedly ordered the family not to seek the police's assistance and threatened to "kidnap" Mosia's 3-year-old daughter if they did.
He also reportedly sent the family a picture of Mosia half-naked and tied up, threatening to kill her if they reported the matter to the police.
"We could not link [him] to the case of kidnapping, because at this point we don't know which phone was used to communicate with the family. But once our investigations are concluded we can make that conclusion," Netshivhodza said.
He said [they] were still trying to get to the bottom of what transpired.
"As the police, we are warning the public not report false cases because they will be arrested for wasting state resources and time," Netshivhodza added.
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