90 Ethiopians found locked in South Africa house in suspected case of human trafficking

JOHANNESBURG - South African police discovered 90 Ethiopians packed into locked rooms in inhuman conditions at the weekend, said a spokesman on Aug 5, and arrested two suspects over allegations of kidnapping and human trafficking.

Police found the Ethiopians in a house in Johannesburg on Aug 3 as they were searching for a man who had been kidnapped for ransom earlier in the week, a police spokesman told AFP.

Officers “rescued 90 undocumented Ethiopian nationals who were allegedly being kept against their will and under inhuman conditions”, a statement said.

They were “found locked up, confined and packed into rooms”. They were taken to a medical facility.

The man who had been kidnapped was among the group. Kidnappers had demanded thousands of rand in ransom for his release.

Police arrested two suspects, who are expected to face charges of kidnapping and human trafficking.

Despite South Africa’s lacklustre economic growth, as the continent’s most industrialised nation, it attracts millions of migrants, mainly from other African countries.

Many come from Malawi, Lesotho and the Horn of Africa, but most are from Zimbabwe.

In September 2023, around 102 undocumented foreign nationals, most of them Ethiopians and some as young as 10 years old, were found in a house in the east of Johannesburg.

According to then Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, they were brought to South Africa to operate general stores around the country. AFP