Hawks arrest Bethal woman for human trafficking
A tip-off about young and undocumented Mozambicans who were kept on the farm prompted the raid in May.
Nonhlanhla Precious Thabetha (49) appeared before the Bethal Magistrate’s Court on Monday, August 29 in connection with human trafficking.
She was arrested on Thursday, August 25 in Esikhawini near Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal where she had been hiding from the police since May.
Thabethe fled Bethal when the Secunda based Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team raided a farm near Bethal on May 14.
A tip-off about young and undocumented Mozambicans who were kept on the farm prompted the raid.
The Hawks found six undocumented Mozambicans who complained to the police that they were recruited from Mozambique and were promised work in South Africa.
However, no jobs awaited them when they arrived in Bethal.
Capt Dineo Sekgotodi, Mpumalanga spokesperson for the Hawks, said the team arrested a foreign national, Edjuanida Teixeira (40), that day for human trafficking, but Thabethe escaped.
Teixeira appeared in court and his case was postponed to September 20 for further investigation.
Thabethe will again appear in court on September 6 for a formal bail application.
