DHA’s ‘child trafficking’ cases don’t stand up to examination

EARLIER this year, the
Department of Home
Affairs made headlines
with claims that 15 child
trafficking cases had been
detected at OR Tambo
International Airport.
Then Minister of Home
Affairs, Malusi Gigaba,
announced the news of the
15 cases the day before he
became Minister of Finance
and used this “success”
to justify no change to
its policy.
TNW asked Nicola Mawson
to find out whether these
cases were indeed child
trafficking.
South Africa made it law
in October 2015 for parents
moving children in and out
of SA to carry with them an
unabridged birth certificate.
In addition, minors travelling
with only one parent, required
the other’s permission to move
the child out of or
into the country.
The DHA said, when
introducing the requirement,
that this was to stop children
being moved illegally – or
trafficked.
While child trafficking is
indeed a scourge, just how
many children are affected
each year is disputed.
There have been claims that
as many as 30 000 children
were trafficked in SA every
year – but Africa Check’s
research found that the
numbers were not backed up
by research.
Apparently, the DHA also
can’t back up its claims.
In an undated article, SA
Government Online reports
that the department has
dealt with 15 cases of child
trafficking at OR Tambo
International Airport.
Quoting then Minister Malusi
Gigaba, the official government
publication says three cases
involved the attempted
trafficking of eight children,
two of whom were South
African.
However, Modiri Matthews,
chief director of Inspectorate
at the department said in a
telephone call that not all the
cases were child trafficking
– as some involved parental
abduction and illegal adoption.
In response to e-mailed
questions, Tebogo Phokanoko,
deputy director of the Central
Law Enforcement unit, failed
to provide numbers of how
many children were spirited
out of SA illegally since the
law came into effect, noting
ports of entry could provide
further numbers. Tebogo was
specifically asked how many
instances of child trafficking
there were, and did not provide
one example.
However, Tebogo cites
examples of a Chinese
minor being abducted by
the child’s father to China,
noting that the matter is
currently in court.
There have also been cases
of illicit adoption, in which a
Democratic Republic of Congo
child was illegally adopted.
That matter is also in court,
and a process is under way
to determine exactly who its
parents are and establish
legitimacy, says Tebogo.
In some cases, the
department had to liaise
with Department of Social
Development, the South
African Police Service and
National Prosecuting Authority,
says Tebogo.
Tebogo adds that most of the
cases the department comes
across are of minors being
smuggled into South Africa by
land, mostly from Zimbabwe,
Malawi and Mozambique.
The African Centre for
Migration and Society noted
in May 2014, after the DHA
had announced that the new
regulations would come into
effect, that there was, at the
time, “no systematic research
available that provides
comprehensive insight into
the prevalence or patterns
of trafficking into or out of
South Africa or the Southern
African region”.
These claims were supported
by research by Africa Check,
which found that the estimates
of how many children were
trafficked in SA could not
be backed up. The website
also quotes Liesl Muller
and Patricia Erasmus, both
attorneys at Lawyers for
Human Rights, stating that
DHA’s efforts won’t stop
trafficking, because traffickers
don’t use legal ports of entry.
It seems, therefore, that the
DHA’s initial stated intention to
cut down on trafficking was a
mere smokescreen.