NEIGHBOURS couldn’t believe what they heard when the crying 14-year-old girl told them she was being held as a sex slave.
She told them she didn’t know where to run as she didn’t know the neighbourhood.
When the owner of the house came home from work, he told them he had paid R15 000 to have the girl.
Residents of Rondebult, Ekurhuleni, said they were worried about the increasing incidents of women and girls trafficked in their area.
The 14-year-old girl from Zimbabwe has since been rescued and the man has been arrested by Alberton police.
Community leader Zola Nongogo said this was not the first incident.
“We encourage the community to inform us and to involve the police to fight human trafficking. This girl should have been in school but was being kept as a sex slave,” said Nongogo.
Nongogo said they were told there’s a woman who operates as an agent who brings the girls into the country.
“The girl said there were three of them, but they were separated when they were handed to their buyers,” said Nongogo.
“She has no clue where the other two girls were taken.”
Residents said the unhappy girl said she wanted to go home.
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“When we asked her where her home was she said she was from Zimbabwe,” said a resident.
Nongogo said they didn’t know how many young girls have been brought into South Africa against their will.
“This cannot be happening. We promote the empowerment of women anddiscourage the abuse of women and kids.”
Captain Manare Ramotshela confirmed the arrest of the suspect, and said he appeared in court earlier this month.
