Call centre ‘turns out to be a brothel’
DURBAN North residents had always been suspicious of the goings-on at a house in their neighbourhood, and this week their fears were confirmed when four women were being held against their will.
Police raided the house on Wednesday and rescued the women from inside the house. They had arrived in Durban a day before from Johannesburg under the impression that they were going to be employed as call centre agents.
Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala, provincial police spokesperson, said the women, aged between 19 and 27, told the police that one of them had met a man in Johannesburg who told her about a job opportunity in Durban to work as a call centre agent selling SIM cards.
The woman said she was asked to recruit more women for the job opportunity.
“The man went as far as going to her mother explaining the legitimacy of the job offer and was in possession of what looked like authentic documentation to back up his claims. The woman and her mother were sold on the idea and she then convinced more women, some of whom were relatives, to take up the job offer,” said Gwala.
She said they boarded a bus in Johannesburg on Monday evening, paid for by the “prospective employers”, and arrived in Durban on Tuesday morning.
Gwala said after arriving at the house, the women met the “boss” and in this meeting “the story changed and they were informed that they were going to be involved in the sex trade business”.
One of the women managed to make a phone call, Gwala said, and this reached the ears of provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who led an operation on Wednesday that led to the rescue of the four women.
Gwala said a case docket for human trafficking was opened, but no one has been arrested. She added that the case has since been handed over to the Hawks for further investigation.
A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said they had been suspicious of the activities at the house and assumed it to be a brothel disguised as a call centre.
She said different women and men were often seen entering and leaving the property.
She said they had complained to the police and the area ward committee about their suspicions.
Another neighbour, Candace Deeb, said they had noted with concern the increased number of people at the house over the past few weeks.
“I heard that our neighbour has opened up a call centre. Daily we would see young women and men coming for the said call centre job. I didn’t take the call centre story seriously, as one would have been notified since this is a residential area. To find out that this is what had actually happened, I’m shocked and outraged,” she said.
Several neighbours, who did not want to be named, told the Sunday Tribune that the house used to be owned by a former police officer who was convicted of being a drug dealer. It was unclear if he still owned the property, as it went on auction in 2020.
Attempts to contact the owner were unsuccessful, as his phone went unanswered.
Hawks spokesperson, Colonel Katlego Mogale said an inquiry had been opened but no one had been arrested yet and the investigation to locate the owner of the house was under way.
Local ward councillor Shontel de Boer said there were some other properties in the area which were suspected to be brothels and she encouraged additional operations from law enforcement.
“The whole community was shaken by this raid, given the fact that these young women were held against their will within the neighbourhood.
There is a school for girls just near where the incident happened, and that alone has left parents uneasy,” she said.