human trafficking Archives - Voice of the Cape

Due to appear in court on charges of human trafficking

Two suspects are scheduled to appear in the Goodwood Magistrates' Court on Tuesday on allegations of human trafficking. According to Siyabulela Vukubi, spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (commonly known as the Hawks), they received information about a possible trafficking victim being held against her will at a guest house in Goodwood and forced to work as a sex worker. “During the search, four females were found at […]

2 June 2025

Local

Hawks arrests three suspects in Plumstead human trafficking case

By Rachel Mohamed A 35-year-old woman has been arrested on charges related to human trafficking in Plumstead. She appeared today in the Wynberg Magistrates' Court alongside her co-accused, Rogers Mubiru (34) and Fatuma Bashiba (38). All three remain in custody, and the case has been postponed until 17 April for a formal bail application. According to the Hawks in the Western Cape, the arrests of Mubiru and Bashiba followed […]

11 April 2025

News

Criminologist explains human trafficking after 90 Ethiopian migrants rescued

By Lee-Yandra Paulsen Police recently rescued 90 Ethiopian migrants who were being held against their will in Johannesburg. The discovery was made during a search for a kidnapping victim on Sunday. Authorities found the migrants packed into small rooms and locked up. Two suspects were arrested on charges of kidnapping and human trafficking, and the alleged kidnapping victim was also rescued. The migrants are believed to have been illegally trafficked […]

8 August 2024

Local

Six Arrested in CT for kidnapping, extortion, and human trafficking

Six suspects, aged between 33 and 41, were apprehended in Klapmuts outside Cape Town on charges of kidnapping, extortion, hijacking, and human trafficking. The arrests come in connection with an incident where the suspects forcibly abducted a woman and her two-year-old child from a residence in Mfuleni on the Cape Flats, demanding a ransom. Additionally, an e-hailing driver was reportedly kidnapped in Klapmuts. Joseph Swartbooi, the police spokesperson, revealed that […]

15 December 2023

Local

SA is losing the fight against human trafficking: Missing Children South Africa

Civil society organisation Missing Children South Africa, says the country is losing the fight against human trafficking. The organisation was reacting to the recent kidnapping of eight-year-old Abirah Dekhta, who was allegedly taken by two armed men, while on her way to school in Gatesville in Cape Town. National coordinator at Missing Children South Africa, Bianca van Aswegen says it is a pandemic. “It’s literally a pandemic that we’re facing, with […]

6 November 2022

Local

About 90 people go missing in SA a month, says missing children South Africa

Missing Children South Africa said, it roughly records between 60 and 90 missing people cases per month. This comes as police in Bishop Lavis in Cape Town are searching for a two-month-old baby who was snatched from her pram at a retail store. In another case, the daughter of the former Economic Freedom Fighters secretary-general Godrich Gardee has also been reported missing. It is understood that she was last seen […]

3 May 2022

Local

Hawks arrest five suspects for human trafficking in Rustenburg, Kuruman

The South African Police Service commended the Hawks on a stellar job after they swooped on five suspects accused of human trafficking in Rustenburg and Kuruman on Sunday, September 27. On a Facebook post, SAPS said: Five male suspects have been arrested over trafficking young women from Limpopo, Lesotho, Namibia to work in brothels in Rustenburg and Kuruman on Sunday. “The suspects were arrested at three properties during a takedown […]

28 September 2020

News

SAPS: ‘Parents need to be vigilant’ on child kidnappings in SA

The South African Police Service has warned against the peddling of fake stories about human trafficking or the kidnapping of women and children. The caution came amid a rise in such reports on social media, with “human trafficking” among the top trends in South Africa. However, speaking on the VOC Breakfast Beat show, Director of Molo Songolo, Patric Solomon said it is important to be wary of minors on social […]

23 September 2020

International News

European governments complicit in abuse of migrants in Libya: Amnesty

Despite repeated warnings, European governments have continued to actively support a “sophisticated system of abuse and exploitation of refugees and migrants” by Libyan authorities, according to an Amnesty International report released on Tuesday. The document, titled “Libya’s dark web of collusion,” details European governments’ complicity in the human rights abuses against migrants when they reach Libya. According to the group, EU governments’ cooperation with Libyan immigration authorities, including the coast […]

12 December 2017

human trafficking

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