33 Human Trafficking Victims from Ethiopia Rescued in Midrand, 65 Others Sold for R17 000 Each

• The police have arrested a foreign national man from Ethiopia who is alleged to have been involved in human trafficking
• The Johannesburg metro police department managed to rescue 33 Ethiopian nationals who were being kept at a house in Midrand
• South Africans have a lot of questions about why Ethiopian nationals are being trafficked in the country and how they got here

JOHANNESBURG - Johannesburg metro police department (JMPD) K9 unit and police highway patrol have rescued 33 people believed to be Ethiopian human trafficking victims on Thursday, 2 December.

One man alleged to be an Ethiopian national was arrested in relation to selling human beings. The rescue mission took place at Glen Austin in Midrand, Johannesburg.

Wayne Minnaar, JMPD spokesperson says the police were unable to save 65 other people who allegedly sold off to business owners for R17 000 each before the police arrived on the scene, reports TimesLIVE.

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Minnaar says the human trafficking victims were starved for four days and only received food after police officers put money together to buy them food.

Minaar says the police received tip-off through the crime intelligence. They were given an address and upon arrival at the house, they saw people locked up in a room.

The premises were being guarded by one Ethiopian man who refused to let the police in. The cops then decided to break down the door and help those in captivity, explains Minnaar.

The recent rescue comes after police saved 50 Ethiopians in Lenasia and 11 others in Meadowlands, according to The South African.

Here's what social media users had to say about the human trafficking rescue:

@Born_of_Afrika said:

Ethiopia is such a nice country, I honestly don't understand what do these people want here."

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@jmclean_mclean said:

"We have a human trafficking syndicate crisis. What is Home affairs and the Hawks doing to curb this? How did these foreign nationals get into our country? How secure our borders?"

@Sthembiso_RSA said:

"These people are being brought here in their 1000s every day so that soon ISIS/Al Shabab/Boko Haram will take over this country and turn it into a Sharia/Muslim state #SouthAfrica.Their plan is coming together quite nicely in this BANANA REPUBLIC @PresidencyZA @GovernmentZA."

@jerryktsem said:

"Modern-day slavery and because it is poor Africans the downtrodden there won’t be noise. Only when there’s is Palestine issue will you hear certain parties making noise. Get your house in order Africans before u can criticize others. A lot needs to be fixed on this continent."

Man accused of kidnapping 50 Ethiopian nationals appears in court

Briefly News previously reported that the man suspected of kidnapping 50 Ethiopian nationals and operating a human trafficking ring in South Africa appeared in court for the first time on Monday.

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The 49-year-old man, who is also an Ethiopian immigrant, has been identified as Abdi Ahmed Kafecho.

He appeared briefly in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court before the case was postponed until 25 October for further police investigations.

News24 reported that the accused, who was arrested on Thursday, 14 October, following a tip-off to police, faces charges including human trafficking and kidnapping.

Source: Briefly News