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News24 reports that a "recruiter" who sold three young men to a Cape Town businessman and tavern owner has been fined R10,000 or two years in prison, suspended for five years.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Philani Nkwalase explained that Cosian Hendriks, 74, recruited his three victims from Colesburg with promises of employment opportunities. The men were picked up by a taxi driver at their homes in the Northern Cape on 27 July last year and driven to Cape Town. Nkwalase explained: "On arrival in Athlone, they were dropped off with Hendriks, who sold them off to a businessman and the tavern owner in Athlone. The three victims were forced into hard labour and stayed in a crude and unhealthy accommodation. Their pleas to be returned home a day after their arrival were met with resistance, as they were told to first pay back costs incurred. The matter was reported to the Athlone police, when the father of one victim heard about their plight." Hendriks and the tavern owner were arrested in July 2018. Initially charged with human trafficking, this was converted to a contravention of the Employment Services Act of 2014. "Consequently, the tavern owner was released as the victims were saved before they could be exploited," Nkwalase indicated.
- Read the original of the above report by Tammy Petersen at News24
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