HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN
AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICA’S
INTEGRATED STRATEGY
International Association of
Women Judges: SA Chapter – 18
to 21October 2007
INTRODUCTION
 A paraphrase
of Adv. Thoko Majokweni’s
address at the United Nations Global
Inter-faith Dialogue: “What the religious
community can do to counter human
trafficking” held at the Cape Town ICC
from 3 to 5 October 2007: We welcome
this opportunity to share our plans as
technocrats with our esteemed judiciary, to
ensure synergy between our programmes
and your intended interventions
BACKGROUND
 MOLO
SONGOLOLO RESEARCH
‘The Trafficking of Women into the
South African Sex Industry’ – 2000
 IOM RESEARCH
‘Seduction, Sale and Slavery: Trafficking
in Women & Children for Sexual
Exploitation in South Africa’ – May 2003
IOM RESEARCH
Research focusing on
 Mozambique (trafficked to Jhb & KZN)
 Malawi (sold to Nigerian syndicates and relocated to
Germany, Italy and Belgium)

South Africa (trafficked to Hong Kong & Macau)
 Thailand (debt bonded in Jhb brothels)
 China (Jhb used as transit to Swaziland, Lesotho &
Mozambique)

Russia and Bulgaria (Exploited in clubs and private
venues in Jhb)
INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK
 United
Nations Convention Against
Transnational Organised Crime – 29
September 2003
 Protocol
to prevent, suppress and punish
trafficking in Persons, especially women
and children (‘Palermo Protocol’) – 25 December
2003
INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK
Trafficking Protocol

Obligations of ratifying States
Criminalise trafficking
Investigate, prosecute and convict traffickers
Undertake border control measures
 In accordance with the means of each State
Provide measures to protect & assist victims
Train law enforcement & border officials
Inform & educate victims, potential victims &
general public
Cooperate with each other and civil society
Trafficking in Persons Inter-sectoral
Task Team
•
•
•
•
•
Department of Justice
Department of Home
Affairs
Department of Labour
Department of Social
Development
Organised Crime Unit
SAPS
•
Ports of Entry Policing
SAPS
• International
Organisation for
Migration
• United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime
• Molo Songololo
INTEGRATED STRATEGY
TO PREVENT AND
REACT TO HUMAN
TRAFFICKING
Result Area 1: Deepened Knowledge &
Understanding of Trafficking
Research: Profiles, routes, purposes, size,
vulnerable groups to each type, elements
 Trafficking Management Information System
(TIMS)

Result Area 2: Enhancing coordinated
cross-sector response


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Programme Coordinating Unit (PCU): National
Coordinator, Project Manager, Finance Manager
and Administrator
Support to National Task Team
Establishment of Provincial Task Teams
Victim’s Assistance Fund: Support to NGOs and
Thuthuzela Care Centres
Expert Response Team
Upgrading of identified courts with high
trafficking volume
Result 3: Capacity Building and Training
Contribution Agreement between IOM and EC
 Training Needs and Development Analysis
 Development of Curricula and Training Material
(subject to legislation requirements)
 “Train-the-Trainer” methodology: SAPS,
Department of Home Affairs (National
Immigration Branch and Refugee Affairs), NPA
(DSO, NPS & WPU), Department of Labour,
Department of Social Development and NGOs
Result 4: Prevention, Public Education
and Awareness
Targeted Vulnerable Group Awareness Strategy
 Public Education and Awareness Strategy
 Targeted Prevention Strategy
Including:
 National and Provincial seminars and outreach
workshops
 Development of outreach material

Result 5: Evaluation and Audit
Direct management of EC Delegation
 Annual Financial and Compliance Audit
 Mid-term Review
 Final Evaluation
CURRENT LEGAL
FRAMEWORK
NATIONAL PROSECUTING AUTHORITY
“Justice in our society so that people can live in freedom and security"
National Director of
Public Prosecutions
(NDPP)
NSSD
National Prosecution
Service (NPS)
11 DPP Offices
1. Sexual Offences &
Community Affairs Unit
2. Witness Protection Unit
3. Specialised Commercial
Crimes Unit
Directorate of Special
Operations (DSO)
“Scorpions”
Asset Forfeiture Unit
(AFU)
Actions taken to counter organised
crime challenges
Establishment of “Troika methodology” of case
management at the DSO: investigators, analysts
and prosecutors
 Establishment of Criminal Assets Recovery Fund
(CARA) for the management of the proceeds of
crime confiscated by AFU
 Establishment of Financial Intelligence Centre by
FICA for the detection of money laundering
 Cooperation efforts improved through initiatives
such as “Prosecutors without boundaries”,
increased requests for mutual legal assistance
and the signing of extradition treaties

LEGAL FRAMEWORK
 Common
Law
Rape, Indecent Assault, Kidnapping,
Abduction, Assault (Common & GBH),
Murder,Crimen iniuria, Extortion
 Legislation
Sexual Offences Act 23 of 1957, Child
Care Act 74 of 1983, as amended,
LEGAL FRAMEWORK Cont.
 Prevention
of Organised Crime Act
(POCA) 121 of 1998
 Prevention and Combating of Corrupt
Activities Act 12 of 2004
 Immigration Act 13 of 2002, as amended
 Films and Publications Act 65 of 1996, as
amended
 Corruption Act 94 of 1992
 Intimidation Act 72 of 1982
The basis for mutual legal
assistance
 Extradition
Act 67 of 1962
An extraditable offence is ‘any offence which in
terms of the law of the Republic and of the
foreign State concerned is punishable with a
sentence of imprisonment or other form of
deprivation of liberty for a period of six months
or more (but excluding any offence under
military law which is not also an offence under
the ordinary criminal law of the Republic and
of such foreign State)’
Extradition Act cont.

Section 11
Discretionary powers on the Minister of Justice
and Constitutional Development to refuse
extradition
where it is not required in good faith and is not
in the interests of justice, or where, for any other
reason, and having regard to all the circumstances of
the case,
extradition would be unjust or unreasonable or too
severe a punishment
Extradition Act cont.
Minister’s discretion to refuse extradition where she is
satisfied that the extraditee will be prosecuted,
punished or prejudiced at his or her trial in the foreign
state because of gender, race, religion, nationality or
political opinion.
The Act contains no prohibition on the extradition of
SA nationals to a foreign state or on the extradition of
the nationals of a 3rd state from SA to another state.
Any such limitation must be sought in individual
treaties.
International Cooperation in
Criminal Matters Act 75 of 1996



Purpose: to facilitate the provision of evidence and the
execution of sentences in criminal cases, as well as the
confiscation and transfer of the proceeds of crime
between the Republic and foreign States
Chapter 2: provision for a Letter of Request in terms
of which, any party to the proceedings may submit
interrogatories or appear in person at the examination of
the witness
Sections 20 & 21: in executing a foreign restraint or
confiscation order by a SA court, provision is made for
the payment of monies to the requesting state, less all
expenses incurred in connection with the execution of
such order
Challenges in the response to
human trafficking cases
1.
2.
Lack of an offence
Process of fitting the various elements
of the act into provisions of several
Acts of Parliament and the common
law
Low levels of detection and prosecution
CASES
State vs Amien Andrews, 2002 (Cape Town)
 Accused targeted young females in public areas
in 1996 and lured them to brothels under false
pretences
 They were tattooed as a means of branding
them and introduced to a life of drug addiction
 Charged with kidnapping, assault to do grievous
bodily harm, indecent assault and rape
 Convicted of all charges and sentenced to a total
of 17 years imprisonment
CASES cont.
State vs Elizabeth Maswanganye, 2006 (Pretoria)
 Accused lured victims with promises of
employment and forced them into prostitution
 Charged with kidnapping and running a brothel
 Convicted of running a brothel and soliciting girls
for carnal intercourse (sec 2 and sec 14 of
Sexual Offences Act)
 Sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in terms of
section 276(1)(i) of Criminal Procedure Act
CASES cont.
State vs Phillips sub judice -‘The Ranch’
case (Witwatersrand Local Division)
 Accused charged with running a brothel,
living-off the proceeds of prostitution,
procuring women to have sex with clients
and employing illegal immigrants at The
Ranch complex
 Asset forfeiture proceedings instituted
successfully
Challenges in the response to
human trafficking cases cont.
3.
4.
Immediate deportation of victims in
terms of Immigration Act
(Lindela Deportation Centre)
Language barriers
Scarcity of translation services for nonSA languages (case of Thai women in
Nelspruit, Mpumalanga in October
2006)
SHORT TERM SOLUTION
INTERIM LEGISLATION
1. Children’s Act No.38 of 2005,
Children’s Amendment Bill

Children’s Act
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Phase 1: s75 – National impact
Phase 2: s76 – Provincial impact
Chapter 18 regulates the trafficking of children for all
purposes
Child’s consent not a defence
Extra-territorial jurisdiction with respect to SAs
Children’s Amendment Bill

Child and Youth Care Centres for trafficked children
2. Criminal Law (Sexual Offences)
Amendment Bill
Part 5 – ss 65 to 66: Transitional provisions
relating to trafficking in persons (adults and
children) for sexual purposes only
 Absence of consent an element of the offence
 Inclusion of pornography under ‘purposes’
 Victims not to be prosecuted for any directly
related offence, e.g. contravention of
immigration laws or prostitution

LONG TERM SOLUTION
SA LAW REFORM COMMISSION Project
SALRC Investigation into
Trafficking in Persons
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Issue Paper – March 2004
Discussion Paper and Combating Trafficking
in Persons Bill
Public Hearings in June 2006
Bill initially scheduled to be signed-off to DoJCD
by 31 March 2007
The enthusiasm expressed in the volumes of
additional submissions are currently being
considered and integrated into the Bill
Definition of trafficking in persons
Protocol
(ACTION)
The recruitment, transportation, transfer,
harbouring or receipt of persons
(MEANS)
By means of the threat or use of force, or
other forms of coercion, of abduction, of
fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power
or of a position of vulnerability, or of the
giving of receiving of payments or benefits
to achieve the consent of a person having
control over another person
(PURPOSES)
For the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation
shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation
of the prostitution of others, or other forms
of sexual exploitation, forced labour or
services, slavery or practices similar to
slavery, servitude or the removal of organs
South Africa
(ACTION)
The recruitment, sale, supply, procurement,
capture, removal, transportation, transfer,
harbouring or receipt of persons, within or
across the borders of the Republic
(MEANS)
by any means including the use of threat, force,
intimidation or other forms of coercion,
abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or
the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to
achieve the consent of a person having control
over another person; or abusing vulnerability,
(PURPOSE)
for the purpose of exploitation;
includes the adoption of a child facilitated or
secured through illegal means’
REGIONAL RESPONSES
HIGHLIGHTED
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IOM’s SOUTHERN AFRICAN COUNTER-TRAFFICKING
ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME: Migration Dialogues on Trafficking in
Persons and Migrant Smuggling, Blantyre, Malawi – 20 to 22
September 2004
Interpol Sub-Regional Bureau for Southern Africa (SARPCCO)
REGIONAL WORKING MEETING: TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN
BEINGS, 29 to 30 November 2004
SOUTHERN AFRICA NETWORK AGAINST TRAFFICKING AND
ABUSE (SANTAC), Kopanong, Jhb – 28 to 29 March 2007
UN GIFT: 1st REGIONAL ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING
CONFERENCE IN EASTERN AFRICA, Kampala, Uganda – 19 to
22 June 2007
AFRICAN PROSECUTORS’ ASSOCIATION, Luanda, Angola – 12
to 14 July 2007
CONCLUSION
 Members
of the National Religious Forum
were recently requested in Cape Town to
facilitate behavioural change in offenders,
when executing their pastoral duties in
prisons
 Consideration of appropriate sentencing
options
 Strengthening of SADC Secretariat’s
efforts in developing a regional response
END
Adv. Nolwandle Qaba
Sexual Offences & Community Affairs Unit
National Prosecuting Authority