Sixteen South African girls, drugged and used as sex slaves for up to
nine months, have been rescued from a human trafficking ring ran by
Nigerians, in a three bedroom house in Kempton Park, in Ekurhuleni,
South Africa on July 15, 2016.
The girls told officers they endured sexual abuse at the hands of
hundreds of men, the youngest just 15-years-old. Some were kidnapped and
others lured with a promise of jobs.
“The 15 year old girl was saying to me she was brought here by Nigerians
โ two weeks back and they promised her they were going to give her a
job โ thatโs how she got here. She even said she doesnโt know the place,
she is just caught up here,” said Gauteng police commissioner Major
General Suzan de Lange.
“The other one said she was brought here by a friend and another said
she was kidnaped. Most of them the whole story is that they were
promised a job.” she added.
Inside the house, new and used condoms were strewn across the floors.
The filthy bedrooms had more than one bed and there was a mattress in a
corner in the kitchen.
The young women told Hawks and South African Police Service (SAPS)
officers that they were abused, drugged and starved. They say they were
forced to sleep with over 15 men a day each and the clients would pay
between R50 and R70.
“These girls are coming from around the country. Some from Soweto and
they are so small and they parents donโt know that their girls are here.
When they are here they are being used by men,” said Hawks head
Lieutenant General Berning Ntlemeza.
“So it means it is a destruction โ we are not going to have kids in this
country if we are going to allow this. We are at war now.”
Police officers, who arrested four men, found drugs and pornographic
material as they swept through the house collecting evidence. The young
girls sat outside the house crying and comforting each other as they
told of their capture and abuse.
Their rescue came as part of the Hawks and SAPSโ Operation Expose.
Offices, houses and factories targeting Nigerian drug lords and human
traffickers were raided in the operation. (picture show HAWKS invading
the streets of Kempton park and every Nigerian owned shop) The operation
has been to Durban and Sandton but authorities are yet to reveal the
next raid will be.
“We arrested a lot of people today โ Boksburg and Kempton Park, this is
the start. We are moving and we are going to deal with drugs in this
country,” said Ntlemeza
