South African police rescue 57 children trafficked from Malawi

JOHANNESBURG: South African police said Monday they rescued 57 children who had been smuggled into the country in an unventilated delivery truck from Malawi.

The group of children was discovered during the weekend at a routine checkpoint in Rustenburg town, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.

"During the search 57 undocumented children ... were found in the back of a delivery truck which is without windows," police said in a statement.

Police spokeswoman Mashadi Sepele told AFP that the victims´ exact ages were not yet known, but that the youngest was believed to be just 11 years old.

"We are 100 percent sure that all of them are children," said Sepele, adding 18 were girls and 39 were boys.

Three men, including the truck driver, were arrested, the statement said.
Police suspect the children were being trafficked for prostitution or for employment as cheap labour.