Doctor, wife get bail in trafficking case

2012-04-02 19:37

Johannesburg - A doctor and his wife arrested in connection with human trafficking and a child sex ring in KwaZulu-Natal have been granted bail of R30 000 each, police said on Monday.

The two filed an urgent bail application, which was granted by the Durban Magistrate's Court on Friday, said Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Mdunge.

They had initially been remanded in custody when they appeared in court earlier that day, but were released on bail after filing an urgent application through their lawyers.

The two were expected back in court on April 10 to face charges of human trafficking and running a brothel.

Mdunge said the couple was arrested at an upmarket resort in Umhlanga, about 15km north of Durban, on Friday.

They had been given an ultimatum to hand themselves over to the police upon their return from Mauritius. When they failed to do so police arrested them. According to Mdunge the doctor was packing his suitcase when police arrested him.

"We gave him a chance to hand himself over. When we asked him why he didn't do so, he said he was scared," Mdunge said on Friday.

Nonduzo Dlamini, 23, Bhabha Dubazini, 29, and Sandile Zweni had already appeared in court in connection with the case that saw police rescue about 24 girls from a building in Durban's Point area. The area has a reputation of being plagued by prostitution and drugs.

When police made the initial arrests in February, they reportedly found 16 girls, some as young as 12, under the influence of drugs. On February 19, KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC Weziwe Thusi urged parents to claim the girls.

Mdunge said there were in fact 24 girls trapped in the ring. Nine of them had been returned to their parents. The others were being kept at a place of safety.

- SAPA