Two South African (SA) sisters, aged nine and 15, have been rescued from an international human trafficking network and returned to South Africa from Malawi.
The girls were received by SA’s Social Development Minister, Dina Pule, at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province.
Their return follows efforts to rescue children trafficked across international borders and reunite them with their families.
The rescue follows a joint operation sparked by an Interpol alert, with the Hawks in the Eastern Cape now leading a criminal investigation.
Authorities reveal the children were trafficked alongside their mother and grandmother by a local couple, a Malawian national and his SA partner.
Pule says: “The two girls are the children whom we are receiving here today. According to the information available to law enforcement authorities, the two children were allegedly led to Malawi by the perpetrators with the parents. Reports indicate that the male suspect initially gained access to the family through what has been described as a romantic relationship.”
“He allegedly developed a relationship with the children’s mother and gained the family’s trust. It is further alleged that he sought to gain control over the family’s financial resources, including the grandmother’s retirement pension. The family was reportedly persuaded to sell their home and subsequently moved into a rented accommodation.”
–ChannelAfrica–
