Pretoria - Alaba Makonjuola Asabi, 38, was sentenced to two life imprisonment terms after he was found guilty on two counts of human trafficking, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as the Hawks) said on Saturday.
He was further sentenced to 10 years for possession and manufacturing of child pornography and 15 years for using the services of a victim.
Spokesperson Brigadier Nomthandazo Mbambo said he will serve an effective total of 45 years direct imprisonment.
An Investigation by the Hawks Human Trafficking Section, done on Friday the 22 October 2021, ensured the conviction of accused.
Mbambo said that it follows an incident in 2018 where a case of human trafficking was opened. This resulted in the arrest of a Nigerian male and the rescue of two Zimbabwean females who were victims used as commercial sex workers.
The accused controlled the victims by locking them in a private dwelling for two years. They were rescued in 2018, Mbambo said.
The victims were successfully repatriated to their country of origin.
“The accused was declared a prohibited person in the Republic of South Africa (sec 29 of immigration Act 13 of 2002. The judge also ordered that the accused's particulars be included in the National Register for sex offenders in terms of section 50 of the criminal law amendment Act,” Mbambo said.
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