Strengthen fight against human trafficking

EACH year, World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, commemorated on July 30, reminds South Africa of the urgent need to confront human trafficking, a crime that flourishes in secrecy and preys on the country's more vulnerable.

- DR JULIET SAMBO

The 2025 theme, 'Human Trafficking is Organised Crime: End exploitation, highlights the organised, systematic nature of trafficking and the urgent need to dismantle the powerful criminal networks behind it.

Human trafficking in South Africa is a complex, hidden crime embedded within organised criminal networks. It encompasses sex trafficking, forced labour, domestic servitude, organ smuggling, illegal adoption, debt bondage, forced surrogacy and even the use of body parts in traditional rituals. South Africa is both a source and destination for trafficking, with victims trafficked within its borders and from neighbouring countries like Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, as well as from Southern Asia.

True scale is under-reported

Official statistics are unreliable, and the true scale of trafficking is obscured by under-reporting, poor data collection, and the hidden nature of the crime. Global estimates suggest millions are affected, with research indicating that, in South Africa, about 55.5% of victims are female and 44.5% male, with the majority aged between 10 and 25 years. High-profile cases, such as the February 2024 disappearance of six-year-old Joshlin Smith in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape, underscore the crisis and its emotional impact on the nation.