Efforts to criminalise human trafficking in terms of South African law received a kick-start on Friday with the release of an issue paper on the topic by the South African Law Reform Commission.
Receiving the document in Pretoria, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Penuell Maduna said existing legislation is inadequate and does not deal with the problem at all.
People suspected in South Africa of trafficking in human beings have to be charged with other crimes such as kidnapping, sexual offences or contraventions of immigration legislation.
”The intention of the government is to criminalise trafficking,” Maduna said. ”If you participated in trafficking, we will be able to charge you with a crime very soon.”
Commission researcher Lowesa Stuurman told reporters the paper raises several questions on how the legal system should be improved to deal with the problem of trafficking.
It will serve as a basis for the commission’s deliberations with South Africans on the issue before it prepares draft legislation — expected to be completed at about year-end.
The document, therefore, does not contain any recommendations.
Stuurman said South Africa is viewed as a country of destination for trafficking victims.
”It is also being used as a transit point for trafficking operations from the developing to the developed world.”
Trafficking is mainly for the purposes of sexual exploitation of human beings, but also for forced labour, forced marriages and the removal of body parts and organs for sale.
While several measures are in place to protect child trafficking victims, such as housing them in places of safety while deliberating on the best course forward, adults do not enjoy the same level of compassion.
They are merely arrested, detained and deported without officials investigating what kind of circumstances they are being sent back to, Stuurman said.
In some cases, victims are charged with crimes committed as a direct result of them having been trafficked into the country — like prostitution.
No register exists of trafficking victims, making it difficult to establish the exact extent of the problem, she added.
Other problems that need to be addressed by legislation is victims’ refusal to testify against their kidnappers for fear of their safety. Language is also an obstacle in court cases, with about 85% of trafficking victims unable to speak any of South Africa’s official languages.
There are also no facilities to house victims pending the completion of a trial, and victims are often deported before they are able to testify.
Punishing victims is clearly not the right way of handling the issue, Maduna pointed out.
”We need to ask the question whether the law is providing us with the necessary instruments to deal with the larger problem.”
South Africans have until May 31 to comment on the issue paper. — Sapa