A retired member of the Free State’s Hawks team is among the four arrestees fingered in the alleged trafficking of a woman for sexual exploitation in Bloemfontein. They are Alicha Britz (29), Rian Mulder (56), Francois Steve van der Merwe (34) and Raoul Hartman (59), a former warrant officer who was attached to the Bloemfontein Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit.
The suspects are set to reappear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, 8 July, following their first appearance on Tuesday, 1 July.
Mulder and Hartman were released on R3 000 bail each while Britz and Van der Merwe are remanded in custody. The foursome’s appearance is the culmination of the Bloemfontein’s Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team. A multi-disciplinary team consisting of the Bloemfontein’s Hawks, K-9 Unit, Crime Intelligence and Police Emergency Services pounced on Britz, Mulder and Hartman on Monday, 30 June, in Bloemfontein. The fourth suspect Van der Merwe was arrested in Secunda, Mpumalanga the following day.
WO Fikiswa Matoti, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, said Hartman retired in 2019 from the elite crime fighting wing. She said the preliminary charges include trafficking in person, rape and attempted murder. Matoti said the young woman was allegedly trafficked for sexual exploitation through a deceptive job offer in Bloemfontein in 2022.
“The 26-year-old victim alleges that, during July 2022, she saw an advertisement on Facebook for a job as a bar tender at a certain gentleman’s club in Ferreira, Bloemfontein. She started talking to the club owner, who made arrangements for the victim to be transported from Ventersburg, Free State. Upon arrival in Bloemfontein, few days later she was taken to the house of one of the accused persons where she was allegedly drugged, sexually assaulted, and repeatedly raped by a group of males. The victim further alleges that one of the suspects was taking pictures during the ordeal. The victim managed to escape through the bathroom window and sought help,” said Matoti.
The Hawks launched an investigation after the case was transferred from a local police station.
