Durban - A schoolgirl prostitute told the Durban Regional Court that a police officer paid her R50 for oral sex in a police van.
He then paid her an additional R50 to keep quiet about it.
She was giving evidence on Tuesday in the trial of Dr Genchen Rugnath, his wife Ravina, and Sandile Patrick Zweni, Nonduzo Dlamini, and Bhabha Dubazini.
They have all pleaded not guilty to 156 charges, including assault, rape, sexual exploitation of a child, and racketeering.
Girls as young as 12 allegedly worked at a Durban hotel.
The girl, now 19, said the police officer took her to Durban's Blue Lagoon area sometime in 2010.
Asked by Rugnath's lawyer Arnand Nepaul during cross-examination about why she got R100, she said: “This (extra) R50 was for me not to tell that I have been doing this with the police officer.”
The officer allegedly refused to let her go because, “he wanted Sandile's money. He knew that Sandile was paying”.
In previous testimony the girl told the court Zweni bribed police twice to release her and other girls prostituting themselves.
She denied that she had been arrested because the officer kept her in the front of the van while seeking out Zweni.
The girl has alleged she worked for Zweni, whom the State has accused of operating a prostitution ring from Rugnath's hotel, the Inn Town Lodge.
The girl previously told the court she was invited to stay at the Victoria Lodge hotel while waiting outside a Durban library when she was 13.
Rugnath's hotel manageress Veena Budhram was initially charged in the matter but has since turned State witness.
Rugnath claims he knew nothing about prostitution at the hotel, located in Durban's Point Road area - known for its red-light activities - and left the running of his hotel to Budhram.
The girl told the court that in 2010 she was diagnosed as HIV positive and had tuberculosis. She said a sister at the KwaMashu polyclinic informed her of her diagnosis.
The trial continues.
Sapa