News24 reports that 40-year Edjuanida Teixeira appeared in the Bethal Magistrate's Court on Monday for alleged human trafficking and is to remain in custody until his bail application on 23 May.

Teixeira was arrested by the Hawks on Saturday after they received a tip-off about young, undocumented Mozambicans being kept at a farm near Bethal in Mpumalanga. Hawks spokesperson, Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi reported that at the farm they found six undocumented Mozambicans who complained to the police that they had been recruited from Mozambique on the promise that someone in SA had jobs for them. The victims alleged that they were transported from Mozambique on 5 May 2022 and, before they reached the border gate from the Mozambique side, the driver stopped and told them to go and pass through the river while he passed through the border post. The victims did as they were instructed and met with the driver on the other side of the border in SA. The men were then transported to the farm and allegedly handed over to Teixeira. "The victims further told the police that the driver of the bakkie was paid R800 for each victim by the recruiter in Mozambique," said Sekgotodi. While at the farm, the victims were allegedly forced to cut grass and steal coal from nearby mines. They were paid R100 after stealing the coal, and were not paid for any other work.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard compiled by Nicole McCain at News24

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