Police and emergency services at the scene where about 30 men were found running through the streets and residents’ yards. Neighbours reported seeing dehydrated people who appeared to have been tortured.
• More than 20 young men showing signs of malnutrition, dehydration and torture escaped captivity in Centurion on Tuesday.
• Police have opened a kidnapping and extortion case.
• The men appeared deeply traumatised, were hesitant to trust authorities and urgently needed medical care.
Centurion resident Gary Watkins was getting ready for work on Tuesday morning when he saw a large group of young men in tattered clothes running down the streets of Laezonia and into people’s barbed wire-fenced yards.
Initial assumptions identified them as trespassers; however, it quickly became apparent that these men were trying to evade capture after being kidnapped.
Watkins, who is part of the community policing forum, called a local security company whose guards went on to capture the young men.
He said: “Around 09:35, a group of around 30 young people was seen running barefoot. Initially, they tried to stay together, but upon being spotted, some of them scattered. Private security managed to round up about 20 of them, leaving some missing.”
The men, who barely spoke English, were carrying little pieces of paper with numbers on them and signalled that they wanted to borrow a phone to get hold of their relatives.
“Some of them asked us to phone their relatives, and when we did, one of them - their family member - was asking us to release them, and they were offering us lots of money to do that,” Watkins told News24.
The men’s dramatic escape led to the police opening a case of kidnapping and extortion.
Police spokesperson Tintswalo Sibeko said the 22 Ethiopian nationals, aged between 16 and 26, had been found on a plot at Erasmia.
Sibeko added:
Three of the victims were injured and are receiving medical attention at the hospital. No arrests have been made yet. A police investigation is under way.
When News24 reporters arrived at the scene, they found the men lying on the grass on an open field between properties, looking extremely weak.
The men, who were barefoot and wore tattered, dirty clothing, appeared malnourished and dehydrated.
Some were hooked up to medical drips administered by members of humanitarian organisations to combat extreme dehydration and malnutrition.
They had scars on their legs - some resembling cigarette burns - and were thin and visibly distressed.
Neighbours brought food and water to assist, offering bread and canned beans.
Some ate the beans from cans, while others devoured the bread with urgency. Their expressions shifted to visible relief as their bodies registered nutrition.
Amid the unfolding chaos, police helicopters combed the area, searching for the rest of the group. Not far from the site of the initial discovery, more young men were located and taken into care.
A member of the local branch of The Value of One - an international NPO involved in rescuing and rehabilitating victims of human or sex trafficking - assisted with administering drips to some of the men.
The member, who would like to be kept anonymous, said the men appeared to have been kept in captivity for a long period.
“Preliminary information from family members suggests that some of the victims may have been held captive for up to eight months. Investigations into the exact circumstances, including the location of captivity and the identity of perpetrators, are ongoing.”
She added that 13 young men, aged between 16 and 30, were initially apprehended, and more were found.
“All were found to be severely malnourished, in need of urgent medical care, and deeply traumatised. Many expressed fear and hesitation to engage with authorities, believing assistance would require monetary compensation, highlighting the extent of their exploitation and mistrust.”
