Author and Professor Philip Frankel launched his latest book Human Trafficking in South Africa at Exclusive Books, Rosebank on June 29.
Frankel explained that although human trafficking had different terms in different circles, it is a violation of one’s human rights.
“The two key players in trafficking are victims and traffickers. Most trafficking involves the seduction of people, the manipulation of their expectations, and the exploitations of their desires.”
Three things that needs to be understood about human trafficking:
- Human trafficking is an atrocity. It is one of the most violent, predatory denials of human rights which we have, as crimes go.
- People who fall prey to traffickers experience a level of physical and psychological injury which in many cases is irreparable.
- Worldwide statistics say there are 50 million people who are victims of trafficking.
The author said, “If you think back to the slave trade that dates to the 18th and 19th centuries, there were approximately 1.2 million people who were slaves. Compared to today, the number has increased 50-fold in the last two centuries. In fact, if we look at what happened over the years since pre-covid and post, there is no evidence that suggests that trafficking will go down because it is so lucrative and a money-making criminal enterprise.”
Frankel added that the following elements make South Africa a paradise for human trafficking:
- Porous borders
- High levels of corruption which include senior members of government and SAPS
- South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world which makes people who are trying to better their lives vulnerable to human trafficking
- SA has a high number of undocumented migrants- SA is a hub of everything that happens in Southern Africa, which includes the circulation of migrants, and we constantly have vulnerable people coming in who are often ruthlessly exploited by the police in some cases.
- SA has a sophisticated banking system that is in many ways appropriate for laundering the funds of traffickers.
The professor said although trafficking generates approximately $3 billion yearly, it was difficult to state the figures in rands because it is difficult to get to the figures in SA due to trafficking being an underground crime.
“Authorities who have the statistics such as SAPS are not always forthcoming with the information, or it takes longer for them to give out the information. What we can do is to infer from various indicators what the number might be, such as look at statistics that speak to GBV, the abuse, and rape of women and children, missing person cases.”
The National Policy Development Framework co-chair, Carina Coetzee said there were strides taken by the government to try and combat trafficking.
“The legislation required us to create the NPF and through this, we create structures to combat and prevent trafficking. In terms of the challenges we face, part of the legislative requirement is to integrate data is a problem, and trafficking is made up of different components such as GBV, and abuse against children. Trafficking needs dedicated officials who know how to work with the different spheres of trauma and abuse.”
Frankel identified 12 types of human trafficking in SA which include:
- Women and child trafficking- used for sex work
- Organ trafficking- people especially children are cut up for their parts
- Forced labour
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