Cape Town - Yet another witness has testified in the Western Cape High Court that she, too, was paid in drugs, while she worked under the employ of alleged sex trafficking kingpin, Edward Ayuk.
The trial of Edward, his wife Leandre Ayuk and brother Yannick Ayuk, who are facing multiple charges of rape, trafficking, kidnapping, debt bondage and assault, resumed yesterday, when another witness told the court how she was lured by Edward Ayuk to work for drugs.
The witness, who cannot be named, said she was rescued by the Hawks (Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) in September 2017, after she was sexually exploited by Edward.
It is alleged the trio benefited financially from the service of women they moved to the city, and took the money that these women made from selling themselves to unknown men.
The Ayuks allegedly benefited financially off the services of their captives as sex workers, by harbouring the women and living off the proceeds of prostitution.
Following the testimony of other witnesses, the evidence indicates a pattern of drug abuse by complainants, with most of the women saying they were paid in drugs.
“Even if I usually give him R300, I’d still only get one piece of rock and one bag (of heroin) per client. If I get like three clients or four clients, for each client I will still get my one bag and one rock,” she said while being questioned by State advocate Maria Marshall.
She said in 2017, Edward approached her to work for him as a sex worker in Cape Town. She took the job after he convinced her the city was beautiful and she would be paid.
The witness said when she travelled to Cape Town, leaving her home in East London, she “didn’t have anything” and was given a cellphone to be used to contact clients only.
“He told me it would be used for clients only. When I went out, that’s when I only gave my number out, when I started working on the street. He took the phone at times obviously to see if there were no other (drug) dealer’s numbers on the phone and he saw the dialled numbers. My dad’s number was one of the dialled numbers and that’s when he confiscated the phone,” she said.
She testified that she stayed in a room with two other women and the room was sometimes used for smoking clients who would stay all night, just smoking and other clients who were served with “quick jobs”.
She said the two brothers would be in the lounge waiting for customers to leave when they arrived at the house.
The trial continues.