Three convicted of human trafficking
A Durban doctor and his wife were cleared of human trafficking charges, racketeering and running a brothel.
Meanwhile their three alleged accomplices all face life imprisonment after being convicted in the Durban Regional Court on Thursday.
Magistrate Simphiwe Hlophe acquitted Dr Genchen Rugnath and his wife Ravina of all the charges that they faced, but he found Sandile Patrick Zweni, 37, Nonduzo Dlamini, 24, and Bhabha Dubazini, 29, guilty of a host of charges related to the prostitution ring they operated from the Rugnath’s hotel, the Inn Town Lodge.
Hlophe, who previously described the state’s key witness as a pathological liar, said that as a result of Veena Budhram’s lies it would have been very hard for the Rugnaths to know what was happening. Budhram managed the hotel for the Rugnaths.
“Veena had lied so much that it was impossible for them to know what was happening,” he said.
He said the fact that Rugnath gave Budhram blank signed checks indicated that the Rugnaths implicitly trusted Budhram and that it was highly unlikely that they knew a brothel was operating from their hotel.
The five had previously pleaded not guilty to the 156 charges that they faced, but in the end Zweni was convicted of 39 charges, Dlamini of 38 charges and Dubazini was convicted of 34 charges.
All three were convicted of racketeering, running a brothel, the sexual exploitation of a minor, living off the earnings of prostitution, human trafficking for sexual purposes and dealing in cocaine. Zweni and Dlamini were also convicted of kidnapping, while Zweni was also convicted of raping a minor and assault.
Hlpophe said the evidence against the three men was overwhelming.
“Accused number one (Zweni) was the heart and soul of the business. Inn Town Lodge was the stronhold of the illegal activisties of accused one (Zweni), two (Dlamini) and three (Dubazini).”
On Thursday Hlophe acquitted all five of one of the human trafficking charges. He found that the key witness related to that charge, Pinky Ngcobo, had lied about ever being at the hotel where the alleged offence had taken place and therefore he could not accept her evidence.
The Rugnaths were also cleared of selling alcohol at the hotel without a valid liquor licence.
The state had alleged that the Rugnaths had willingly and knowingly allowed Zweni to run his prostitution ring from their hotel, where girls as young as 12 were brought into a life of drugs, which they then could only pay for using the money that they earned from prostitution. The five were arrested following a police operation.
However, Hlophe found that the only person who had implicated the Rugnaths was Budhram, their manager. But Budhram, who turned state witness a week after being arrested, admitted during the trial to stealing from the company and running her own catering business using her employer’s facilities.
None of the women and girls who testified ever saw the doctor and the wife and told the court that they were told to vacate the hotel every time that the Rugnaths came to the hotel.
Prosecutor Yuri Gangai said that he would be seeking terms of life imprisonment for the three men. All three had previous convictions. Zweni had previously been convicted of assault and culpable homicide while Dlamini and Dubazini had previous drug convictions.
The three will return to court on May 9 for sentencing, while Budhram will also return to court where it will be determined if she should be charged.
After Hlophe said the Rugnaths could leave the court room, Ravina could be heard crying for joy in the foyer outside the court room.
The Rugnaths declined to speak to the press, saying that they would be issuing a press statement later.