The relative of a 14-year-old girl who was arrested for human trafficking, defeating the administration of justice, perjury and wasteful usage of state resources, made his first appearance in the KwaDukuza Magistrate’s Court, on Wednesday.
It has been alleged the 43-year-old man “sold” the teenager for R5 000, in exchange for his 23-year-old co-worker to have a relationship her.
He was nabbed by police after his suspicious behaviour led security officers to believe that he was lying about the details surrounding the teenager’s disappearance on February 5.
He gave security officers from Reaction Unit South Africa different versions of how the teenager disappeared, claiming that she had been kidnapped by a Malawian foreign national, who had dragged her into a sugar cane field near the Isnembe Primary School.
After extensive investigation and searches, police found the teenager with the foreigner on Saturday, at an informal area called Sandpit, in Redcliffe, Verulam.
The 23-year-old suspect was arrested and charged with statutory rape and for being in the country illegally.
On Monday morning, the relative was arrested.
The foreigner appeared in the KwaDukuza Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Both men were remanded into police custody until their formal bail applications, next week.