Anti-trafficking Plan Unveiled

An anticipated surge in human trafficking during the 2010 Fifa World Cup has prompted a prevention drive by non-governmental organisations and the police, who have already begun tracking possible traffickers.

At the launch of the Red Light 2010 campaign in Hillbrow, US ambassador Luis C deBaca said local police are using mapping technology in the fight against traffickers.

He also said the South African police "have identified brothels moving closer to the stadiums, and that movement is taking place in southern parts of the country".

The initiative was spearheaded by Johannesburg Child Welfare, together with two local NGOs, the Southern African Network on Trafficking and Abuse of Children and Women Leadership in Southern Africa, a gender-based organisation in the SADC region.

"The 2010 event poses a very interesting exercise from a law-enforcement perspective. Sporting events see an upsurge in prostitution, this is not trafficking but it is a very vulnerable situation, so the country needs to put anti-trafficking laws in place," deBaca said.

Child Welfare's assistant director, Carol Bews, said: 'During 2010, there will be a lot of visitors coming to our country. With so many people in South Africa, we will see women and children being trafficked.

"This campaign intends to give people knowledge about how trafficking happens."

"At this point, the traffickers are probably well in place yet we have not yet got our activities together," Bews said.

The Red Light campaign has come in the wake of the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, which recommended that South Africa "address demand for commercial sex acts and protect children from commercial sexual exploitation in advance of the 2010 World Cup".

Kate Mocheki, a social worker at the Gauteng Children's Rights Committee, said the lack of awareness within communities is problematic.

Crime statistics do not reflect human trafficking as it is not often reported because communities do not understand the nature of the crime.

Part of the problem was that the South African Human Trafficking Bill which was recently gazetted in Parliament, is currently open for public comment before it can be legislated.

"There is no understanding of what human trafficking is, hence it is not yet seen as a crime. Yet human trafficking is a growing trend in South Africa," she said.