SlaveryMap
Domestic Servitude

Clarendon St, Cape Town, South Africa

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20100422124204355C380047 The trafficker involved in this investigation is a woman who is suspected to be a part of a larger trafficking ring run out of a warehouse that she owns in Parow, Cape Town. Operating under the guise of an employment agency, they would target girls in rural areas in the Norther Cape (such as Prieska) and bring them to Cape Town under the promise of providing a better life and good jobs with good salaries. Instead the girls found themselves working in the woman’s house or in the shops of people that she knew. The girls were often accused of making a mistake with the till in the shop and would receive large cuts in their pay – some never saw a pay cheque at all. Those who were lucky enough to work in the woman’s house would receive the occasional portion of rice and meat, but usually they were only fed dry bread in the morning and baked beans for supper in the evenings. After being rescued one of the young women told the officers that she had had a miscarriage the week before, but had not received any medical attention. She said that when she had told the warehouse owner, she simply replied that t was “not her problem.” Although the woman who owned the warehouse claimed that the girls could leave at any time, the young women told police that they were locked into the property at night and that they were not allowed to leave the warehouse. They were held captive and not even allowed to approach the front of the warehouse, but were told they must remain at the back.

Location
South Africa · Clarendon St, Cape Town · 2010 (location generalized to protect survivors)
Response & intervention
Aldred Charles, who heads the city's Substance Abuse, Safety and Security Specialised Service Unit, said that the woman could face charges of human trafficking and exploitation. He said that police had found documents showing that the operation specifically centred on recruiting young women from rural areas.

Charles said to reporters that human trafficking, for both labour and sex, was a growing problem in the city. Cape Town’s Vice Squad rescued five teenage girls, ages 18 and 19. Although the girls were kept under tight control, one managed to alert a few residents to their situation, pleading for help. Niel Arendse, told reporters that an officer from his unit was attending to a dispute on Claredon Street, Parow when he received a tip off from a resident about the warehouse situation. The squad entered the warehouse that night and found the girls huddled together in the back corner, clutching their possessions. Old mattresses were scattered across the cement floor with bedclothes tossed over them. After being rescued, the five girls were taken to a city shelter, a move that was organised by two NGOs.
Sources

Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). Use “Report a problem” below to add a source or flag an issue.

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