It started with a hairstyling opportunity on TikTok.
In April 2026, a 22-year-old woman looking for work in Cape Town was contacted by a woman who offered to arrange everything — her travel documents, her passport and her flight ticket.
When she landed, she was allegedly collected and taken to a hotel. Then, according to the Hawks, her passport and cellphone were allegedly taken and she was told she would be forced into prostitution.
That is the pattern investigators say they are seeing again and again in South Africa’s trafficking underworld: false jobs, paid travel, social media recruitment, then control.
The Cape Town case is now widening. Two new suspects, aged 25 and 35, were arrested on 29 September 2026 by the Hawks’ Economic Protected Resources Team. They are expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on 30 September.
Their arrests bring the number of suspects detained in this investigation to three.
The first accused, 29-year-old Jasmine Maureen Robert, was arrested earlier this month after the victim escaped and ran to Woodstock Police Station. Police say Robert then went to the same station to enquire about the victim’s whereabouts, where she was identified and arrested.
She is expected back in court on 5 October for a Legal Aid application. The allegations against her have not been tested in court.
Hawks investigators say the victim was lured through a direct message on TikTok — a method the Department of Justice has repeatedly warned about. Traffickers use unverified job adverts and social media approaches that appear legitimate, specifically targeting young people seeking work in another province or city.
Once contact is made, the trap tightens with generosity. In this case, the recruiter allegedly paid for everything, removing the victim’s financial barrier to travel — and creating dependency.
On arrival, the victim was allegedly isolated in a hotel, stripped of her documents and phone, and pressured into sex work. When she refused, she managed to flee.
Robert and the victim have both been identified in reports as Nigerian nationals. Police have not publicly confirmed the nationalities or immigration status of the two suspects arrested on 29 September, and the investigation remains ongoing.
The Cape Town case is not isolated. It mirrors a wider network of alleged recruitment rings operating across provinces.
In KwaZulu-Natal, two men aged 65 and 48 were arrested after women were allegedly lured from Johannesburg to Durban with promises of employment before allegedly being forced into prostitution and pornography. The Hawks said four other suspects are still being sought, including one believed to be in Dubai.
In August, two people were convicted in KwaZulu-Natal of human trafficking and related offences after a woman was allegedly lured to the province, raped, held against her will and forced into prostitution.
The numbers show how deep the crisis runs. According to the Department of Justice, 234 trafficking victims were rescued and assisted in the 2024/25 financial year alone. During the same period, 32 new trafficking prosecutions involving 57 accused were instituted, while 67 cases involving 156 accused and 428 charges remained ongoing across the country.
Only 23 cases were finalised with a verdict, with 11 resulting in trafficking convictions — a low return that prosecutors say reflects how difficult these cases are to bring to court when victims are terrified, isolated and stripped of identity documents.
The department has urged job seekers, particularly young women, to verify offers, not surrender original documents, and to ensure someone outside the arrangement knows their location.
The investigation remains ongoing. Investigators have not ruled out further arrests as they trace how the recruitment channel was operated and who funded the travel.
