Africa Check fact checks Lerato Kganyago human trafficking claims

In light of the publicised kidnapping and human trafficking cases, many people have shared information informing people places to avoid and how to stay vigilant.

Although the information is shared with good intentions, some of it is false according to the South African Police Services (SAPS). Warning the public that some incidents shared online is fake news.

Media personality Lerato Kganyago used her platform to alert her following about the recent spike in human trafficking was politely fact checked by Africa Check.

The independent fact-checking website shared a thread debunking some stats on human trafficking in South Africa.

In a series of tweets on 14 September, Lerato posted that South Africa had officially become a source country for human trafficking. Africa Check said this claim was correct, the United States (US) department state had classified the country as a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking.

However, the two-tier classification means the government has not met the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.

In her next claim that children and women go missing every hour was debunked.

Every hour a child or woman goes missing! Some are lucky to escape, most never make it! HUMAN TRAFFICKING IS REAL!

— leratokganyago (@Leratokganyago) September 14, 2020

AfricaCheck tweeted: “While trafficking is a serious concern, there is no evidence for her claim that at least 1 million children are trafficked annually in #SouthAfrica. The closest figure is a 2,000 estimate of 1.2 million children globally. In 2018 South African authorities identified 260 victims.”

They added that smuggling was conflated with trafficking making data less reliable.

Experts say a lack of centralised & clear data makes it difficult to estimate how many children are trafficked each year. For example smuggling is often conflated with trafficking, making data less reliable. Better research is needed to counter the problem.

— Africa Check (@AfricaCheck) September 22, 2020

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