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Magistrate Ruth Jakuja is to hand down judgment on Wednesday in the first human trafficking case to be heard in the Western Cape.
Vukani Shembe, 36, has been on trial in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court, charged with rape and human trafficking after he is alleged to have lured a 20-year-old woman from Swaziland into SA with the promise of a job.
Once in SA, she was allegedly held captive and repeatedly raped over several months.
Shembe pleaded not guilty to both charges.
In court on Wednesday, Shembe’s lawyer, Thuso Matseme, said the woman saw Shembe’s offer as an opportunity to “run away from home”.
“The woman saw the opportunity and grabbed it. Shembe offered her a job. When they arrived in Cape Town, she had to put up with (my client) drinking all day and the job promised to her, she didn’t get. When she realised it was not working out, she claimed she was kidnapped and raped. This way, authorities would have (returned) her home without asking any questions,” said Matseme.
Matseme also said the woman appeared to be well-spoken and smart enough to know the difference between right and wrong.
“She wasn’t forced. According to a witness, she borrowed money from her aunt to travel to South Africa. Why would she lend money and cross the border without a passport knowing that it is illegal? What kind of person is she?” Matseme asked.
Matseme said the woman told the court she was last raped on April 10, 2010.
But by that date, Shembe was already in custody.
State prosecutor Mornay Julius said he believed Shembe was lying.
“The complainant was honest and was able to give a full account of her experiences. The woman would not have gone with the accused for money. She testified he had very little.
“She had just finished matric and was waiting for a bursary to attend university. It was highly impossible that she left her favourable conditions to run off with Shembe.
“Her phone was cut, she was alienated,” said Julius. - Cape Times
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