Africa-Press – South-Africa. A Mozambican national has been acquitted on human trafficking charges but found guilty of living in South Africa illegally – and handed a suspended sentence.
Eduardo Teixeira, 43, was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for five years, by the Bethal Regional Court in Mpumalanga on Tuesday.
Teixeira had been charged with human trafficking after it was alleged that he and his girlfriend, Nhlanhla Thabetha, had recruited men and women from Mozambique and promised them employment in South Africa.
Spokesperson for the Hawks in Mpumalanga Captain Dineo Sekgotodi said the matter was reported to the Hawks Secunda-based Serious Organised Crime Investigation, and an investigation was launched.
Sekgotodi alleged that when the Mozambican nationals arrived in South Africa they were taken to a farm in Bethal and “forced to work on the farm and sent to steal coal during the night in the mines”.
“Teixeira was arrested together with his girlfriend,” Sekgotodi said.
Both Teixeira and Thabetha were acquitted of human trafficking charges.
Mpumalanga National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said Teixeira would be deported to Mozambique.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
