For sale: Hillside girls
Amorey, Nozi and Olivia’s Taiwan trip turns into a human trafficking nightmare.
Weekdays SABC2 (*192) 18:00
Just about every young adult dreams of packing their bags and flying off to an exotic overseas destination to follow their dreams. For Hillside friends Amorey (Kristen Raath), Nozi (Dimpho More) and Olivia (Nadia Herbst), their dream of teaching English in Taiwan to primary school kids turns into a kidnapping nightmare on Thursday 8 February when they are grabbed by a human trafficking ring. As viewers tune in, the question on their – and the girls’ – minds is whether someone will kick down the doors and rescue them or if they’re doomed to be sold to the highest bidder and be kept as slaves.
KEEP CALM
There’s chaos on Friday 9 February when the girls wake up and realise that they’re trapped in a shipping container. Nadia says that the trio handle the situation very differently as they come to terms with things. “Amorey is the plan maker and tries to figure out how she can get them out of their prison. Nozi is hysterical and expects the worst. And Olivia is the mother figure who comforts the other girls who’re sobbing non-stop in the container with them.” In the meantime, Amorey’s husband Willem (Markus Haywood) flies to Taiwan on Thursday 8 February and when he can’t find any sign of her, he contacts her parents immediately. “He knows something is wrong because the girls never pitched at their destination,” says Markus. “Willem also looks for them at the hotel that they were supposed to stay at and the school they were to work at – and neither actually exists.” Amorey’s dad Chris (David Rees) realises something horrible has taken place and he calls an investigator friend to find the missing trio.
DETECTIVE ON DUTY
The police drag their feet on Friday 9 February and don’t seem too bothered to do their work. Amorey’s brother Rickus (André Lotter) is frustrated and does his own detective work by chatting to Bonita (Hildegardt Whites). “She heard about this organisation that the girls got their jobs through in January. Bonita also wanted to go but her application wasn’t successful,” explains André. Bonita is stunned to hear that the girls are missing and she takes Rickus to the organisation’s head office on Friday 16 February. They’re sent round in circles and leave without answers or even a clue as to what’s going on.
DIGGING DEEPER
Things have gone from bad to worse in the container on Friday 9 February. Kristen says that the girls “have come to the conclusion that they have been kidnapped and the chances that they will be sold as sex slaves are high”. Amorey also suspects that the water bottles that they’ve been drinking from in the shipping container are drugged. “She constantly feels like she has no control over her body and mind. She isn’t even sure if they are being held in Taiwan, South Africa or on some kind of ship,” adds Kristen.
If they’re going to launch any real escape attempt, they’ll need to be alert and awake to take advantage of any slip up from their captors. Amorey stops the girls from drinking any more water. Back in Hillside, Amorey’s
ex-fiancé Diederik (Hennie Jacobs), hears about the missing girls and he’s got an idea. There is an information pack about the Taiwan trip in Amorey’s flat and on Friday 9 February he suggests tracking down the printers to question them and get clues as to who had the documents made.
THERE IS HOPE
The girls have been missing for three days on 7de Laan screens and it takes its toll on everyone by Monday 12 February, from Amorey’s estranged mother
Mariaan (Deirdre Wolhuter) to Chris’s detective, who is frustrated by the lack of progress. Desperate to get her daughter back, Mariaan turns to Justin (DannJaques Mouton), who’s had dealings with the criminal world and he gets in contact with his connections to get any info on the girls’ whereabouts. Deirdre says that Mariaan will do anything to get Amorey home. “She loves Amorey unconditionally, despite the fact that there is currently bad blood between them. She just wants her daughter back safely.” Justin’s contacts gets back to him that same Monday 12 February and there’s good news – the three kidnap victims never left South Africa! While Mariaan prays that the police will start doing their jobs, there is bad news in the container. “They are weak due to the lack of food,” says Kristen. “But they are clinging to hope that someone will rescue them. Amorey specifically refuses to give any time and energy to negative thoughts. She has been in a similar situation in May last year when she was stranded after a plane crash. If she could overcome that situation in the jungle, she can handle this and won’t get suffocated by the container walls.”
RESCUE RANGERS
Rickus and Diederik are still searching for the girls on Tuesday 13 February and Chris’s detective is working with a special police unit collecting info on a possible site where the three are being kept. There’s been no sign of the kidnappers, so no one knows if they’re armed or not – and that could spell doom if the rescue mission doesn’t go according to plans…