Hawks probe five more suspects in Durban trafficking case
Updated Aug. 13, 2026, 12:08 p.m. | By Nushera Soodyal Five more people are being investigated in a human trafficking case involving a Durban businessman…
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Updated Aug. 13, 2026, 12:08 p.m. | By Nushera Soodyal
Five more people are being investigated in a human trafficking case involving a Durban businessman accused of luring women from Johannesburg with promises of employment before allegedly forcing them into sex work.
The 65-year-old suspect was arrested at his home in Umhlanga on Tuesday.
He is accused of luring women to Durban with promises of jobs, only for them to be forced into sex work.
The man made a brief appearance before the Durban Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
READ: Durban trafficking case: State details alleged kidnapping, sexual assault
Hawks officials in KwaZulu-Natal said four victims were rescued from a house in Durban North after one of them managed to send a WhatsApp message to her boyfriend, who alerted police.
The women, from Eldorado Park in Johannesburg, were allegedly recruited in 2022 to sell SIM cards to clients at a private casino.
It is alleged that after they arrived in Durban, they were told the job had changed.
According to the Hawks, the women were then locked inside a house and had their movements restricted and monitored.
The businessman, whose name was recently mentioned in testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, is expected to apply for bail next week.
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