Two brothers who were arrested in Mpumalanga trafficking 39 Mozambicans into South Africa in June, have been convicted and sentenced to three months imprisonment for being in the country illegally.
The Belfast Magistrate’s Court sentenced Carlos Bernardo Guambe, 34, and Gabriel Bernardo Guambe, 32, to three months in jail or a R5000 fine each for human trafficking. The two brothers abandoned bail and are serving their sentence behind bars.
According to Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, the brothers were remanded until Wednesday where they will be joining their co-accused, (father and son) Cornelis Johannes Uys, 60, and Cornelis Johannes Albertus, 23, for trial on charges of contravening the Trafficking in Person’s Act by participating in trafficking or conspiring to traffic people.
According to the Hawks the suspects recruited people from Mozambique and brought them into South Africa with a taxi.
“The victims were transported from Mozambique to the border whereby they had to get out of the taxi and cross the border illegally through the river into SA, from where they were taken by the taxi to Mashishing,” Sekgotodi said.
“The son of the farm owner and one trafficker allegedly met with the taxi driver and paid him money in exchange for the victims, who were taken to the farm for labour.”
She said the victims were rescued from a farm in Dullstrom by members of the Mbombela-based Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation, Flying Squad, and the departments of labour and home affairs.
Source: News24, The Citizen, The South African, Times Live, image from The Citizen: iStock