Police increasingly concerned about incidents of suspected human trafficking in Johannesburg

In a separate incident earlier this year, several other Ethiopian nationals were rescued in the same area, with some admitted to hospital with varied injuries.

The Ethiopian nationals are currently being kept at the Sandringham Police Station, where an interpreter offered police some information on what they're dealing with.

According to Adise Jarse, who spoke to the alleged human trafficking victims, the suspected captors attempted to extort money from their families, who some had left behind in the Horn of Africa.

"So I asked them how they demand the money, is it by the phone and WhatsApp everything. They demand family, from the whole family here in Ethiopia and South Africa, they don't care. They ask them even until they demand until Dubai, the family is there, extorting the money to kidnap, like kidnap, human trafficking."

This is not an isolated incident, as Jarse said he had been called to the Sandringham Police Station on multiple occasions in similar situations.

This was a cause for concern for police, as spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo explained.

"It happened in January this year, so it is a concern for us as the police that there are people that are being brought to our country against their will and they are kept in the houses here around against their will."

The Ethiopian nationals allege that they were often beaten, while some died on the premises and had their bodies disposed of.