A 41-year-old Zimbabwean woman’s incarceration in a South African jail continues after her bail application was postponed to next week for further argument in court.
According to SABC News, the Investigating Officer in the case told the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court in the Northern Cape that the woman was a flight risk.
The woman, whose identity has not been revealed, was arrested in December 2023, alongside a 46-year-old man after they were seen travelling with 14 undocumented children on a bus from Midrand to Cape Town.
The investigating officer told the court that the accused’s travel documents did not correspond with the dates on her passport.
She further stated that the Zimbabwean woman is a flight risk as she does not have a valid home address in South Africa and might flee the country if released on bail.
The officer also testified that the 14 children would also be in danger if the woman was released.
The defence is expected to continue with their arguments next week and the accused remains in custody.
The woman, and a man also reported to be Zimbabwean, were found on a long-distance bus with undocumented minors in their company – eight boys and six girls aged six to 14 years.
They appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on 7 December on charges of human trafficking.
The duo was arrested by a multi-disciplinary team comprising of Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation, Kimberley Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit and Kimberley Crime Prevention, according to Hawks spokesperson, Lt Col. Tebogo Thebe.
Last month, Border Management Authority (BMA), a South African law enforcement agency, said that it intercepted 42 buses carrying 443 unaccompanied minors were intercepted at Beitbridge Border Post.
However, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe said that claims by South African officials that 42 buses carrying 443 unaccompanied minors were intercepted at Beitbridge Border Post on the SA side were false.
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