/ 22 February 2012

Deny bail to human trafficking suspects, urges ANCWL

The ANC Women's League on Tuesday called for bail to be denied to four men charged with trafficking 16 young girls found at a building in Durban's Poi

The ANC Women’s League on Tuesday called for bail to be denied to four men charged with trafficking 16 young girls found at a building in Durban’s Point area.

The men were a danger to society, spokesperson Lydia Johnson said in a statement.

“The ANCWL calls upon all women and men to stand up and join us in condemning this barbaric and heinous act against our children. Let us go to court and demand that the perpetrators be denied bail.”

League members would gather at the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Friday for the men’s bail application. Johnson called on police to conduct regular raids, particularly in the Point area.

The four were arrested on Friday when 16 girls, eight of them minors, were found in the building. Some were as young as young as 12, and others allegedly under the influence of drugs when they were rescued.

The girls were thought to have been used as drug mules and were to be shipped out of South Africa from Durban.

The social development department and police were trying to find the girls’ families. –Sapa