Job seekers are urged to be vigilant after a 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped and robbed while looking for a job in Verulam, KZN, on Monday.

Prem Balram, the spokesperson for Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa), says the teenager arrived with a relative at Rusa’s offices on Tuesday morning and told them that she had been raped and robbed.

Balram says the girl said she boarded a taxi from Inanda to Verulam on Monday morning to look for a job.

“During her search, she met a man on Wick Street. He befriended the matric student and struck up a conversation. He informed her that his company was seeking staff and would assist in arranging an interview.

“The teenager boarded a taxi with him and disembarked at an unfamiliar location. The suspect [allegedly] produced a firearm and asked the girl to remain silent. He instructed her to enter [the] bush where he [allegedly] raped her.”

The man then allegedly stole her Hisense U50 cellphone and R70 in cash, and advised her to remain in the bush and not to follow him, says Balram.

He adds that the teenager complied with these instructions and only went out of the bush after some time. She sought assistance from a local businessman who gave her taxi fare to return home.

Balram says the young woman visited a medical facility following the incident but is yet to register a criminal case with the police.

Jobseekers are urged to be on high alert.

Reaction officers have attended to numerous call-outs where females have been lured to sparsely populated areas where they were robbed or raped, says Balram.

“The suspects are convincing and in some cases produce employment documents in an attempt to authenticate their scam,” he adds.