5.2 Presentation of the data pertaining to the interview questions
5.2.1 Questions 7 and 16
“What is your understanding about human trafficking in the DPA?” and “What is your understanding about human trafficking in the DPA?”
The responses to these questions revealed a need for action. Similar views were expressed by the two groups of participants, with most of the SAPS officials viewing the problem of human trafficking from a national/provincial rather than a local (DPA) perspective:
“Human trafficking is really a menace that desires special attention and healthy partnership between the SAPS and the society in city, especially trafficking for prostitution. As there is a harbour and airport problem, which is continual and disturbing. And it is a pity that citizens are still not taking the problem serious, they seem believing that the problem is happening outside their zone. This is noticed on the little attendance of the people when there are campaigns. The forms of trafficking such as labour and prostitution are prevalent in the province.” (PO-1)
“Human trafficking is still a huge concern in the province and in the whole country. The country is still grappling the problem but it is still continual disturbing because the incidents of the crime are still happening month by month. That alone reveals the extent and the problem of the crime. There is still the problem of the missing people monthly and that could be the activities of human trafficking that deprive the people of their human rights. Altogether, the
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human trafficking is still huge and problematic, this is extremely caused and perpetuated by weak borders and the airports.” (PO-2)
“Looking at previous and current cases you can conclude that human trafficking in the city and province is problematic and needs attention of all the relevant systems. SAPS has done some arrests that reveals the extent of this crime. The arrests involved apprehension of traffickers in different brothels and factories. Prominent forms of trafficking in the province are trafficking for sexual exploitation and trafficking for labour.” (PO-3)
“Human trafficking is prevalent in the province, in the country, in the continent and in the world and the prevalent one here is the one for prostitution. There is no better place as far as human trafficking is concerned, most of the countries are suffering especially the developing countries because they lacking the means to deal with the scourge. In the province of Kwa- Zulu Natal the problem is high that is the reason why the task unit was established to try and positively deal with this crime. It is important to note that almost all forms of the crime are here, people are trafficked for labour reasons, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and organ removal. It’s either they are forced to work in the country or transported abroad, and the weak borders play part in the problem.” (PO-4)
“It is growing especially in big city such as Durban because there is the port. People are abducted or forced to the different forms of human trafficking such as labour, prostitution and some other people find themselves the victims of human trafficking for organ removal. It is better that the government passed Acts to respond to this crime code. Hence, we have organised crime, human trafficking section for courts to deal with it effectively”. (PO-5)
The nature and extent of human trafficking are problematic in Durban, and negligence seems to be fuelling the negativity as far as awareness of the human trafficking threat is concerned.
In this respect, personnel from the NGOs had this to say:
“Human trafficking is there and it is growing further, especially for prostitution, but people are not aware of this, even the media is not reporting all incidents of human trafficking which affects the awareness towards the phenomenon of trafficking.” (NGO P1)
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“We admit victims on a monthly basis; that means the problem is devastating. Human trafficking is growing, and if you compare the current situation and the previous one, you would realise the extent of human trafficking.” (NGO P2)
“Although one can say there is effort on the problem of human trafficking but the problem is still there, particularly, trafficking for sexual exploitation and labour.” (NGO P3)
“Trafficking is a problem because people are not aware of it. They put their lives in danger due to unemployment, they are desperately wanting to utilise any chance that prevails, so in that way it is growing.” (NGO P4)
“The problem grows time by time and a lot still needs to be done to successfully reduce the current state of the phenomenon.” (NGO P5)
The findings show that human trafficking persists SAPS officials continuously uncover crimes related to human trafficking. The above perceptions of the participants are anchored by Whittle (2017) who confirms that South Africa is considered to be an ‘ideal location’ for human trafficking. Furthermore, US Department of States (2018) reported on the failure of South Africa to adequately respond to human trafficking which, according to this study, reflects the extent of the human trafficking problem in the country.
Figure 5. 1: South Africa’s incompetence in curbing human trafficking - downgraded to tier 2
Source: US Department of States (2018)
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The above figure depicts the failure of South Africa to respond successfully to human trafficking, which reflects on the extent of this scourge in South Africa. This suggests that the SAPS (and by implication, NGOs) is ineffective in exposing and combating human trafficking in the DPA, while the country as a whole is also scrambling to curb this crime. This correlates with Adepoju’s finding that trafficking events operate from neighbouring states to South African cities in Gauteng and KZN, Durban included (Adepoju, 2005).