Five alleged human traffickers are expected back in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning. They were arrested on New Year’s Eve in Sunnyside.
One of the suspects allegedly lured a 17-year-old girl from her home in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria in March last year. The victim was kept against her will, forced to take drugs and subjected to sexual exploitation.
The Hawks rescued the 17-year-old and a 25- year-old woman from a flat in Sunnyside. Four male Nigerian nationals and a South African man face charges of contravening the Trafficking in Persons Act for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
In another case, 39- year old- foreign national, John Frederick and 25-year-old Thulani Mnisi face charges of human trafficking and are also expected back in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning.
The two were arrested when three women aged between 18 and 33 were rescued from a brothel operating under the guise of a guesthouse in Benoni on Gauteng’s East Rand late in December.
It’s believed the 18-year-old raised the alarm after she alerted her cousin of her abduction. The call led to the arrest and the rescue of two others.
