The court heard that the mother facing human-trafficking-related charges, who at a stage was smiling and laughing in the dock, was a sex worker.
The 38-year-old mother accused of advertising the sexual services of her daughters (aged 13 and 18 at the time), was back in a High Court sitting in Palm Ridge on November 5.
She appeared alongside Carel Schoeman (35), who is accused of buying her 13-year-old girl.
Schoeman (accused two) is facing 26 charges and the mother 72, to which they both recently pleaded not guilty.
The charges against the pair include rape, sexual abuse of a minor, child trafficking and the pointing of a firearm at a person.
During the court session on November 5, a Brakpan guesthouse owner testified the mother was a sex worker.
The owner said he then appointed the mother as a receptionist at the guest house to get her out of prostitution.
According to his testimony, the mother would rent rooms, which she paid for in cash.
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He said from June 2022 until February 2023 the mother brought “women that worked for her” to the guest house.
The witness did not identify the now 15-year-old and 13-year-old as part of the women using the rooms.
During cross-examination by the mother’s representative, Harold Davids, the witness said he would not allow a minor to book a room.
The owner told the court he was aware it was illegal to run a brothel and that he had a guest house and not a brothel.
A worker at a guest house in Boksburg also took the stand as a witness. According to the witness, the mother hired rooms along with teenagers, including two daughters.
She said men were constantly seen coming and going, who she assumed might have been family.
The worker also testified that she knew accused two as she saw Schoeman as one of the men who visited the rooms rented by the mother.
Under cross-examination, the witness said she never saw the mother abuse her children.
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The court also heard a testimony from a guesthouse owner in Heidelberg. She testified how Schoeman booked a room for three days online, which was later extended by a day.
The owner said that Schoeman was with a girl, who she identified as the mother’s eldest child.
“I had a feeling she was a child as she was small and petite,” she testified.
She told the court that she asked the girl her age, to which she responded 18. During cross-examination, the guesthouse owner said that the girl received a takeaway at the gate at least once.
She could also not recall what the witness was wearing or whether she was wearing makeup on the day they met.
Schoeman’s advocate, Deon Pool, pointed out to the witness it’s unlikely that a person committing an offence would use his real name to commit a crime and pay for the room with his actual bank card.
The witness also apologised for not reporting the matter. The owner could not testify that the girl appeared neglected or was there against her will.
Pool read a plea explanation in court. It stated that Schoeman was under the impression that the girl was 19.
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According to the plea explanation, in October 2022, Schoeman noticed the profile of a lady on an adult website.
The profile listed the age of the lady as 19. The girl’s real name was not used.
“The profile further listed a mobile number which I contacted to make an appointment. The appointment was scheduled for two hours. I was provided with an address of a guesthouse where I was introduced to the lady.
“During the time I spent with the lady, I had no reason to believe that she was younger than the age listed on the profile.
“On or about the end of February, last year, I was contacted by the lady’s maternal grandmother, who advised me that she was 14 years of age and that I needed to return her to the grandmother immediately, which I did as she was with me at the time,” he said in the plea explanation.
He added he left the girl in the care of her grandmother at her home in Brakpan and did not have any further contact with her thereafter. Schoeman said he was shocked at being told that the girl was 14.
“I was also concerned that the girl was in danger and decided to approach the senior prosecutor in Boksburg for assistance in securing the safety of the girl and her siblings who I had come to know about.
“The senior prosecutor in Boksburg advised that I must provide a statement setting out my experience in the instance and deliver it to her, which I did.
“I was subsequently arrested and charged in the case. I genuinely and reasonably believed that the girl was of consenting age based on her appearance and behaviour.”
The matter resumes on November 11.
