Mozambican man gets six months in jail or R6k fine for smuggling 14 girls into South Africa

In a sentence that has received much criticism, a Mozambican national was sentenced to six months in prison, with an option to pay a R6,000 fine, for smuggling 14 Mozambican minors into South Africa on Friday, 6 December 2024.

The sentence was wholly suspended for three years on condition that he does not commit a similar offence, not be found unlawfully assisting any person(s) to enter, remain or depart South Africa during this period.

Moises Armando Mate, a 32-year-old Mozambican national, appeared before Komatipoort Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 27 December 2024, after he was arrested at Komatipoort, Mpumalanga.

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He smuggled the minors, all girls, aged between four and 16 years old.

According to police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Magonseni Nkosi, the minibus that was fully loaded with the 14 girls was stopped by members of the Border Management Authority (BMA) on the N4 next to one of the filling stations.

“Mate and the victims were handed over to Komatipoort Saps [South African Police Service], and the case of aiding and abetting was registered. The victims were handed over to the Department of Social Development for assessment before they were sent back to their country of origin,” said Nkosi.

The case was handed over to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) for further investigations.

ALSO READ: Eight Mozambican boys rescued from Chinese factory in SA to be sent back home

Mate made a few court appearances before he pleaded guilty on Friday, 27 December. The court handed down the sentence after Mate pleaded guilty as charged.

‘Slap on the wrist’

South Africans have criticised the police report, labelling the sentence as a slap on the wrist.

Tania Koen, an attorney and CEO of the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation, said the sentence was too lenient for the committed crime and will not deter others from the crime.

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“I’m shocked. I’m shocked at such a lenient sentence, considering that those children will be serving a life sentence. This certainly will not serve as a deterrent. It’s not serving as a deterrent, and it’s our job to protect our children. This sentence most certainly does not reflect that,” Koen told The Citizen on Sunday.

Mozambican kids deported

In May, social workers from the Gauteng Department of Social Development repatriated eight Mozambican boys back home.

The Mozambican boys said they came to South Africa on 15 January 2024 in a taxi with 14 other boys from their village.

The police found the eight Mozambican boys during a raid initiated by the Department of Labour and Employment.

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The department had received information that a factory owned by a Chinese national in Nigel was employing children and undocumented foreigners in January.

It placed the boys, between 13 and 17 years old, at the Mary Moodley Child and Youth Care Centre in Benoni.

The department opened a case of child labour, poor working conditions and employing undocumented minors against the owner of the electrical supply company in Nigel.

Human trafficking in SA

The 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report by the US Department of State released in August said human trafficking was rife in South Africa.

Although the government had made progress on addressing the issue, more still needed to be done.

ALSO READ: 2024 human trafficking report reveals alarming exploitation trends in SA

According to the report, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in South Africa. 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 socio-economically 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.