logo
Carte Blanche

Trafficked: Bus ride from hell

Video
26 March
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฐ. In November last year, a ten-year-old girl was found during a routine traffic roadblock, squashed inside the luggage compartment of a long-distance bus. She had been smuggled from Zimbabwe into South Africa under extreme conditions for several hours. But her case isnโ€™t unusual. In this months-long investigation, Carte Blanche unravels alleged cross-border human trafficking and the shadowy figures known as transporters who are making it all possible. Undocumented foreign nationals are lured to South Africa from numerous African countries โ€“ many of them ending up on the streets of Johannesburg North. Thousands of Malawians are lured into the country on the promise of a new life, some smuggled by long-haul bus companies and funeral parlours, only to be forced into sex work and manual labour. In an even more sinister twist, many of the victims are coerced into taking out funeral policies on themselves once they reach South Africa. Itโ€™s an unusual demand but a guaranteed income as the transporters cash in on vulnerable undocumented foreign nationals. Find more exclusive content on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv