Couple accused of human trafficking
A Cape Town couple made their first appearance in court, charged with human trafficking for sexual purposes.
|||Cape Town - A couple made their first appearance in the Parow Regional Court on Wednesday, charged with human trafficking for sexual purposes.
Because the charge is of a sexual nature, the couple, from Goodwood in Cape Town's northern suburbs, may not be identified until they plead to the charge.
The case had been transferred from the Goodwood District Court, where the couple had appeared several times before magistrate Shaun Lea.
In Wednesday's proceedings, they appeared before magistrate Elsa van Zyl, who warned them to appear again on March 2.
Prosecutor Portia Chauke told the court that the charge sheet had not yet been formulated, but that it, as well as the contents of the docket, would be made available to defence attorney Leon van der Merwe before the couple's next appearance.
In an unconnected case, two Chinese women are expected to appear in the same court on Thursday, also charged with human trafficking for sexual purposes.
The Chinese women are also charged with procuring services of a sexual nature for allegedly running a brothel.
Their case was also transferred from the Goodwood District Court.
Regional courts are superior to district courts, in that the former's sentencing powers are much greater than the district courts.
African News Agency