The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for social development on Sunday called for the parents of 16 rescued child sex workers to claim their children.
The girls were rescued on Friday from a building in the Point in Durban.
MEC Weziwe Thusi commended the police on a job well done.
“We must fight child trafficking and prostitution rings because they attack the very core of our existence. I would like to call on communities to assist the police in fighting this scourge,” she said.
Police spokesman Colonel Vincent Mdunge said state authorities had managed to track down some of the girls’ parents.
“The investigators have allowed the girls to undergo a debriefing session after which they will be filing sworn statements,” said Mdunge.
He said finding the remaining families “would not be an overnight exercise because the girls came from different parts of the country”.
The girls, eight of whom were minors, were used as drug mules and prostitutes, and were under the influence of drugs. They were due to be shipped out of SA from Durban.
Four people have been arrested. – Sapa