SA a playground for human traffickers

The couple were arrested during a sting operation after the long-distance overnight bus they were travelling in from Midrand to Cape Town made a stop-over in Kimberley.

An alert passenger, who noticed the couple, contacted the police after he noticed the unkempt14 children aged between six and 14. They were dressed shabbily and carrying no luggage.

Provincial head of the Hawks in the Northern Cape, Major General Steven Mabuela hailed the role played by the whistle-blower as well as the different government departments who were involved in the operation that led to the couple’s arrest. The suspects informed the police during interrogation that the children were on their way to visit their parents, who work in Cape Town.

However, the police found it strange that none of the 14 children were carrying any form of identification documents or papers identifying who they were, where they were coming from and where they were going. None of the children were in the company of an accompanying adult, who appeared to be either a parent or a guardian.

When police and other officials participated in the sting operation, they questioned the couple about the children. Their responses failed to convince them. Both the man and the woman were placed under arrest on suspicion of kidnapping and human trafficking.

The couple is in detention and the case continues at the Kimberly District Court.

Meanwhile, at the Beit Bridge border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe in Limpopo, a similar child rescue operation drama played itself out when members of the South African Border Control Management Authority officials intercepted 42 busses carrying 443 young children from Zimbabwe. The buses were refused permission to enter South Africa.

The two incidents have since raised fears and heightened tensions among parents of local children and their families. Many said they are beginning to understand the threat of human trafficking and kidnapping.

They said this is a threat posed by crime syndicates who target young women and children with impunity using the country’s borders to ferry their stolen human cargo to unknown destinations.

Local residents were approached for comments about the failed two incidents of human kidnapping and trafficking in Kimberly and at the Beit Bridge border post. Their responses were mutual as they all agreed that they expect the police to act swiftly against any local criminals who may want to duplicate these horrendous violent crimes.

Residents added that what is even of more concern to them and their families is how easy is it for human trafficking syndicates to operate unhindered and between borders.

“What will stop them from kidnapping young children in the streets and abduct women from their homes for human trafficking?” said an angry 76-year-old Gogo Ma-Buthelezi. She is a local pensioner who lives in Vosloorus with her 10 grandchildren.

Meanwhile, Beit Bridge border post officials on the Zimbabwe side of the border now claim they were caught by surprise when they received information from South African border authorities about the convoy of 42 busses.
According to Zimbabwe officials, the 443 children were on the way to visit their parents who work in Cape Town. No one among them was carrying any form of identity or travel document and it as obvious to the officials that they (children) were actually travelling on their own without any adult supervision and they were not carrying any personal luggage.

Kathorus MAIL has since learnt that all 443 children were handed back to the Zimbabwe authorities whose job it is to now trace where the children came from, where their parents are and where were they being ferried to in the 42 buses.

With the high rate of GBV and crimes against children at its peak in the country, the kidnapping of young children and women for the purposes of human trafficking for nefarious reasons should be the very last thing South Africa’s communities and the country’s police can ignore right now.

With South Africa being turned into a playground for all sorts of criminal syndicates, ignoring what is currently happening on our borders will be the nation’s peril.

A US Agency for International Development (USAID) report indicates that young girls are vulnerable to human trafficking in SA. The country is often the source, transit and destination for trafficked women, children and even men for criminal activity worldwide.

Another report, produced for the Laser Pulse Project, also found that between January 2018 to December 2021, of the 98 children identified as victims of human trafficking, 59 were from SA and of the 754 adult victims from more than 30 countries, 445 were South Africans.

“The collection of evidence from these sources indicates that human trafficking is indeed a serious, pervasive and systemic problem in SA that seamlessly intersperses with other crimes and social phenomena, including GBV, prostitution, organised crime, missing persons, irregular migration, child abuse and labour disputes, to name a few,” the report reads.

“The most trafficked gender is young females, followed by older females.”

Findings from the research confirm that sex trafficking continues to account for most of both reported cases and prosecutions of human trafficking, while labour trafficking prosecutions are severely lacking.

“Victims and perpetrators of human trafficking are significantly undercounted in both research and practice. Extreme violence is meted out by traffickers, while places where exploitation occurs are embedded in communities and operate for protracted periods without any meaningful law enforcement intervention,” the report concluded.

Meanwhile, the Laser Pulse Project report states: “SA is not nearly equipped or co-ordinated enough to deal with this crime as effectively as it should or could, and enabling factors such as corruption, complicity, and compromise of officials and other counter-human trafficking role players is a constant stark background to counter-human trafficking efforts.”

Gauteng has reported the most cases of human trafficking, followed by KwaZulu-Natal. About 400 victims were identified in the 79 human trafficking prosecutions that were ongoing in courts during 2021. This makes young children and women the most sought-after victims of kidnapping, and human trafficking by crime syndicates.