Cape Town - Police made a shocking discovery at the weekend when several undocumented women and children were found hidden inside a trailer attached to a bus.
Officers from the Paarl SAPS made the discovery while on patrol along the N1 highway at 5am on Saturday.
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said the officers noticed people disembarking from a passenger bus near the Sonstraal off-ramp.
Officers approached the bus and discovered undocumented women and children inside the trailer attached to the bus, he said.
“One of the passengers intervened and offered one of the SAPS members an amount of R50000 to release the passengers.
“The SAPS member honoured his mandate and executed an arrest on charges of prevention and combating of corrupt activities, an offence in terms of the Immigration Act and prevention and combating of trafficking in persons,” Swartbooi said.
The Western Cape Mobility Department’s
Head of Communications, Muneera Alli, confirmed that provincial traffic officials assisted the SAPS but couldn’t divulge the discovery made by the officers.
“Our provincial traffic officers were dispatched to assist the SAPS with an incident on the N1, near Paarl, involving a bus carrying alleged undocumented foreign nationals. Further processing of the incident is being conducted by the SAPS,” she said.
Swartbooi said an investigation would be conducted by the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (Hawks). He said the suspects would appear in the Paarl Magistrate’s Court today. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber commended the SAPS following the arrests and offered support to enable successful prosecution of persons alleged to have violated immigration laws.
“The Department of Home Affairs is committed to playing its role alongside law enforcement and prosecutorial services, and invites the DPCI to contact the department for any assistance it can provide in this regard,” Schreiber said.
Chairperson of the Paarl-West Community Policing Forum (CPF), Leon Bester, couldn’t comment on the discovery made near the Winelands town.
“I will report back to you as soon as I have all the info regarding this specific incident,” Bester said.
Bianca van Aswegen of Missing Children SA said their organisation is aware of the incident but couldn’t comment on the specifics of the matter. The organisation helps family members and loved ones report a missing person as soon as possible by providing emergency response services.
Van Aswegen said human trafficking is a rife problem in South Africa, with the country being a transit, import and export destination for trafficking in persons.
“Be careful of social media and any false work advertisements, this is one of many platforms being used to lure victims.
“We have seen an increasing number of cases in this respect and that of kidnapping in South Africa,” she explained.
“We ask the public to be vigilant and report matters immediately if any such incidents are suspected.”
Cape Argus