A 60-year-old Mpumalanga man accused of human trafficking has denied in court keeping five girls as sex slaves, Beeld reported on Thursday.

Lloyd Mabuza and his co-accused Violet Chauke, 22, appeared in the Graskop Magistrate's Court on Wednesday on charges of rape, and human trafficking for sexual purposes.

Between 2009 and 2012 he allegedly lured young Mozambican girls to South Africa with promises of a better life and an education. The girls were between the ages of 10 and 16.

A State witness, whose name was withheld, testified on Wednesday that her husband worked for Mabuza and she took one of the girls under her wing and sent her to school.

Mabuza and Chauke were taken into custody in December 2012 after five girls were found half naked and starving. He allegedly raped them at his home in Rhenosterhoek.

According to the State, Chauke's sister Juliet allegedly brought the girls from Mozambique. There may have been more than five girls because Juliet reportedly took them back to Mozambique after he had abused them.

Closing arguments were expected on Thursday.