57 kids saved from 'traffickers'
Dozens of children - rescued from suspected human traffickers near Rustenburg in North West - travelled more than 2,500km from Malawi, squashed into the back of a small delivery truck. Police found 57 children between the ages of 11 and 21 in the back of the closed delivery truck which had only a hole on top for ventilation.Three Malawian suspects have been arrested and appeared in the Rustenburg Magistrate's Court yesterday.Two police officers stopped the speeding truck with Gauteng registration plates early on Monday.The three suspects, aged between 25 and 36, refused to open the back of the truck. Acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Kgomotso Phahlane, said the children, 18 of whom are girls, told police they had been promised between R2000 and R2500 each on arrival in South Africa. He could not say if this was the work of a syndicate, but said the promise of cash pointed to a sponsor.Phahlane said it was clear the children, who had their bags hanging inside the littered truck, were being transported with the "sole purpose of human trafficking".The rescued children, "obviously traumatised. transported like goods", are in a place of safety.He said the suspects face 57 counts of human trafficking and will remain in custody until their next appearance in September...
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