Kidnapping and trafficking cases on the rise in SA

Kidnapping and human trafficking cases are on the rise in South Africa, according to experts, with Covid-19 creating the perfect storm for trafficking rings to flourish under the harsher economic conditions.

The National Freedom Network (NFN), a national network of roleplayers working against human trafficking, say the latest figures from their hotline showed that human trafficking cases were on the rise, with 395 cases reported between July and September this year.

This figure excluded those reported to the South African Police Service, which only releases their figures annually.

This as the anti-human trafficking community has raised the alarm that kidnappings and cases of missing children were also seeing an upward trend.

Online grooming and exploitation, especially of children was also on the increase this year, according to Awareness for Child Trafficking Africa (ACTA) Chairperson Hillary Leong. This trend is also closely linked to trafficking and the sexual exploitation of minors.

Between 2016 and 2019 human trafficking cases increased globally by 164% from 40 million to nearly 106 million in 2019, according to a United Nations report.

“Anywhere where there is increased vulnerability and desperation, human trafficking is sure to thrive…With Covid-19 and the economic downturn, not just in SA but the world over, there has been heightened poverty and desperation and that has created the perfect storm for human trafficking.

“Right now one of your kids could be sitting online talking to someone they believe is their age, being groomed and coerced into sending naked pictures,” said Leong.

“Once they have all the information they need on you, they can now control you because they can threaten to tell your parents or expose you and your nude pictures or videos,” she warned.

A 19-year old Ugandan woman in Johannesburg was just one case of suspected human trafficking, Leong dealt with recently, after reporting her fear she was about to be trafficked out of the country.

Leong said she had been in contact with the woman for the past few years, after she first reported a case of rape and was sent to a women’s shelter. She eventually reunited with her handlers, who according to Leong, have both claimed to be the woman’s father to police officers.

Living under harsh conditions at the mercy of two men who apparently raised her in South Africa, the young woman was brought into the country under suspicious conditions as a small child, with no documents and no knowledge of her family history.

In her young life, she had already endured years of sexual abuse at the hands of men who effectively kept her captive by monitoring her every move. She contacted Leong again recently because, according to her, she had been told she would soon be leaving on a plane, with little more explanation as to where she was going and who she would meet there.

Though she has since been rescued, law enforcement agencies were understood to still be investigating whether this was a case of human trafficking.

Another case Leong was recently involved in was the the case of missing teen Bathabile Polo, where human trafficking was also suspected before her body was discovered burnt beyond recognition in an open field in Randburg. Though kidnapping was distinct from human trafficking as a crime, the two were linked in many cases, making a spike in kidnapping a serious cause for concern in South Africa.

Gloria de Gee, founder of the Umgeni Community Empowerment Centre, which works with human trafficking cases and awareness campaigns in KZN, said outside of the rise in human trafficking activity over the Covid-19 period, increased kidnappings had also been observed in the outreach community.

“There are lots of kids going missing right now and there is a link between human trafficking and the kidnapping especially of women and children. Although men and boys do get trafficked its not at the same scale as young girls and women,” said De Gee.

“Some are groomed with drugs in order to be exploited for sex trafficking and sex slavery, so that is what happens to the young ones, especially because that is where the porn rings come in.

“There is a whole ring of people involved in these activities. There are those who take pregnant women, so they can take the child and groom them for a certain purpose and probably prostitute the woman. But there are many other trades such as organ selling and the selling of body parts which is also a big thing in South Africa.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.