Community members are searched by police officers before entering the mineshaft to negotiate with illegal miners in Stilfontein on 13 November 2024. Picture: Emmanuel Croset / AFP
The North West Department of Social Development has confirmed that 96 undocumented children were among the illegal miners arrested and detained in Khuma, Stilfontein.
The department said that most of the illegal miners are believed to be from Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, including Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.
The miners, who had been working underground in disused mine shafts, initially refused to resurface, fearing arrest.
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Police, during Operation Vala Umgodi in the area, blocked supply routes for food, water and other necessities, prompting at least 565 miners to emerge on 3 November.
Over time, the number has grown to more than 1,000.
The Department of Social Development will place all identified and legally declared undocumented children in accommodation and provide for their basic needs, while they are still waiting to be processed in terms of the Child Justice Act.
The Court will, in terms of the provisions of the Child Justice Act, formally charge the children while they are placed in the safety of the facilities of the department,” said spokesperson Bathembu Futshane in a statement.
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“The department has identified cultural mediation to assist in translation as language was identified as a barrier. Furthermore, the department has engaged the Zimbabwean and Mozambique embassies for the issuance of repatriation certificate/travelling documents. Health services have been provided to the children to ensure that they are healthy and that their rights were not violated.”
The department will also continue to provide the necessary support until the repatriation process is concluded.
Although the South African government has demonstrated overall increasing efforts in combatting human trafficking, more still needs to be done, according to the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report by the US Department of State.
According to the report released in August, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in South Africa.
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They recruit victims from neighbouring countries and South Africa’s rural areas and exploit them in sex trafficking in urban areas such as Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Bloemfontein.
“Traffickers force both adults and children, particularly those from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities and rural areas as well as migrants, into begging, domestic service, mining, food services, construction, criminal activities, agriculture, and the fishing sector,” reads the report.
“Traffickers recruit both foreign and South African victims through fake job advertisements on social media and classified advertisement forums, including advertisements for webcam modelling, hospitality, mining, and domestic work. Some fake advertisements, particularly for domestic work, specifically request Zimbabwean or Malawian applicants.
“Syndicates, predominantly operated by Nigerians, force women from Nigeria and countries bordering South Africa into commercial sex, primarily in brothels and other commercial-front establishments.”
According to the report, even some illegal miners are victims of human trafficking.
“Boys from Eswatini and Lesotho are trafficked for forced labour in illegal mining,” it reads.
READ MORE: 2024 human trafficking report reveals alarming exploitation trends in SA
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