TimesLive reports a whistleblower's call for help to his wife in Lesotho has exposed the operations of a sophisticated international slave trade syndicate.
For years SA police have been investigating the alleged operations of the organisation‚ run in the Free State. But the suspected mastermind‚ a prominent businessman known as the "General"‚ who has been arrested before on multiple charges‚ including kidnapping‚ has always managed to stay one step ahead of the law. On Wednesday organised crime unit detectives from the Hawks raided homes‚ lodges‚ farms‚ taverns‚ a taxi rank and a panel beater’s shop‚ in the mining town of Welkom‚ arresting six people and rescuing 10 women and men. The 10 had allegedly been trafficked from across the country and southern Africa. Among those arrested were two recruiters from Lesotho and several of the businessman's relatives. It was the breakthrough police have wanted for nearly eight months. The call for help sparked a three-day operation‚ involving the SA embassy in Lesotho and police in SA and the Mountain Kingdom. Hawks Free State spokesman‚ Captain S'fiso Nyakane, said the Hawks were concerned about the level of human trafficking in the province. "The Free State is a very rural province. These syndicates use farms and lodges outside of cities and towns because of their isolation."
- Read this report by Graeme Hosken and Kgaugelo Masweneng in full at TimesLive
- Read too, Inside the Free State farm suspected to be a human trafficking lair, at TimesLive
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page