The Louis Lategan case is a chilling reminder of how economic desperation can be exploited, how survivors are forced to fight for their credibility, and why justice must mean more than a guilty verdict.
There is something particularly sinister about using the promise of an honest day's work to prey on someone who desperately needs a job.
For six young women who travelled to a remote Karoo farm in search of employment, the prospect of earning a living as au pairs became the beginning of an ordeal that would eventually bring them face-to-face with their abuser in court.
Their employer was Lategan, an Eastern Cape farmer who was convicted in the Makhanda high court in September of six counts of human trafficking, five counts of rape and several other offences.
The court heard how the women, recruited between 2020 and 2023, were economically vulnerable.
They had responded to what appeared to be legitimate employment opportunities.
Instead, the court found that Lategan had exploited their vulnerability.
These were not simply allegations that disappeared into the system.
They were allegations tested in court, followed by convictions.
And that distinction matters.
In a society where sexual violence remains a devastating reality, survivors are too often confronted with suspicion, scrutiny and questions about their motives.
Their behaviour is dissected. Their credibility is challenged. Their personal lives the subject of public debate.
The accused, meanwhile, is entitled to the presumption of innocence and a fair trial — protections that are fundamental to any functioning democracy.
But those protections should never be confused with an entitlement to have an unsupported conspiracy theory accepted as fact.
Lategan was entitled to defend himself. The court was equally entitled to reject his defence after considering the evidence.
That is precisely why independent courts matter.
One of the most disturbing aspects of this case is the exploitation of desperation.
Unemployment is not merely a statistic. It is the young woman who accepts work far from home because her family needs money.
It is the job seeker who trusts an employer because she cannot afford to turn down an opportunity.
It is the person who finds herself isolated, dependent on someone else for accommodation and income, and uncertain about how to escape a frightening situation.
Lategan will be sentenced in December.