Hawks have rescued 10 women from an alleged human trafficking ring and arrested five people in raid in Rustenburg and Kuruman.
The Hawks are South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, DPCI, which targets organized crime, economic crime, trafficking, corruption, and other serious crime referred to it by the President or the South African Police Service. It was set up by the Zuma administration in 2008.
Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, who confirmed the development on Sunday, September 27, said the women are from Limpopo, Lesotho and Namibia and were trafficked to work in brothels in Rustenburg and Kuruman. The brothels were disguised as bed and breakfast accommodation.
Mulaudzi said: “The women were trafficked from neighbouring countries and used as sex slaves. The brothels were disguised as BnBs and the women were made to pay rent while working there.”
RT#sapsHQ Today #Hawks arrested 5 suspects for alleged human trafficking young women from Limpopo, Lesotho, Namibia to work in brothels in Rustenburg & Kuruman. Suspects were arrested @ 3 properties during a take-down operation. TM pic.twitter.com/aayXPeTyG7
— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) September 27, 2020
According to Mulaudzi, the bust of the trafficking ring were a culmination of an investigation which lasted more than a year.
“The investigation started in June 2019. Since then, we have been working on collecting intelligence,” he said.
The investigation identified six suspects. One of them died in 2019, but the remaining five were arrested during a swoop on three properties, which began at 06:00 on Sunday, Mulaudzi said.
The Hawks are working with the Department of Social Development to take the rescued women to places of safety.
The Department of Home Affairs was also assisting with their immigration status, Mulaudzi said.
