Tebogo Msimanga |
A father Cornelis Johannes Uys (60) and his son Albertus Uys (23) were remanded in custody by the Belfast Magistrate Court on Monday, 4 July 2022 after they were arrested by the Hawks Nelspruit based Serious Organized Crime Investigation on Sunday, 3 July 2022 for Trafficking in person case.
Their arrest followed after two other suspects Carlos Bernardo Guambe (34) and Gabriel Bernardo Guambe (32) were arrested on the 24 June 2022 for Trafficking in persons whereby 39 victims including 7 women, 9 children under the age of five and 23 males all over the age of 18 were rescued from a farm in Dullstrom during a multidisciplinary operation by members of Nelspruit Serious Organised Crime, Flying Squad, Department of Labour and Home Affairs.
Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Sekgotodi said further information gathered at the crime scene was that the modus operandi entails that the victims were recruited from Mozambique and brought into South Africa in a taxi for a better job.
“The victims were transported from Mozambique to the border whereby they had to get out of the taxi and cross the border illegally through the river to the other side of South Africa, whereby they were taken by the taxi to Lydenburg”.
The son of the farm owner and one trafficker met with the taxi driver and paid him money in exchange of the victims who were taken to the farm for labour.
Sekgotodi said further Investigation revealed that both victims and suspects were in the country illegally. The case against the four was postponed to 11 July 2022 for formal bail application and they were remanded in custody. The investigation is continuing.
