Cape Town - Two men and a woman accused of running a sex trafficking ring from their house in Brooklyn appeared in the Western Cape High Court.
Edward, Leandre and Yannick Ayuk are charged with more than 40 counts including rape, kidnapping, human trafficking, assault, debt bondage, withholding personal identity documentation, using the services of a trafficking victim, and dealing in drugs from 2015 to 2017.
A State witness and rape victim on Wednesday returned to the stand to conclude her testimony.
State advocate Maria Marshall gave her the opportunity to clarify evidence she testified about in court.
She said: “The police took us from the accused’s house to Bellville, and that is where I gave the statement.”
The victim said she made the statement to one female detective who wrote down what she was saying.
Marshall also addressed the “age aspect”, asking her about her testimony that she told people she was 19.
“At the time, people would ask when we were sitting and drinking, ‘why are you guys drinking with a child’ and I would say to them, ‘no, I’m not a child, I’m 19’.
“The reason being all my friends who I was drinking with were older than me. They were 18 or 19, so I was the youngest, I was 16,” she said.
Acting Judge Alma de Wet then asked her a few questions from the Bench. De Wet said: “You testified here in court that accused number one raped you once … can you explain to me the difference between the statement and what you testified in court.”
“Here on the statement, it is written, four times, I came to the court and said it only happened once,” the victim said. “Was the statement wrong?” AJ De Wet asked.
She said: “Yes, the statement was wrong … Ayuk only raped me once, not four times.”
She explained: “Even when I signed the statement, I did not see the ‘four times’ … I told the lady that he raped me once, so when I signed I did not see the ‘four times’ … I just told the lady once and then the following morning that is when the police came.”