Human trafficking in Southern Africa: the need for an effective regional response

Abstract

Human trafficking is an old practice that has become a matter of global concern irrespective whether a country is a country of origin where people are trafficked from; a country of transit where people are trafficked through and a country of destination where people are trafficked to. In 2009, the UN Office on Crime and Drugs stated that 66% females, 22% of children and 12% of men are trafficked. In Africa, human trafficking is identified as a problem in roughly one in three of the countries. According to the Salvation Army, at least 2,000,000 people are trafficked each year and of the estimated number, Africa accounts for 450,000. Furthermore, statistics reveal that 30% of cases handled by the Southern Africa Counter-Trafficking Assistance Programme (SACTAP) involved SADC nationals. The purpose of this study was therefore to determine whether there is a need for an effective legislative response to human trafficking in SADC. This was established by tracing the evolvement of trafficking from its conceptualization as slavery to its evolvement to human trafficking. Further, by investigating the measures taken within the SADC region to address human trafficking both at the national and regional levels and a comparative study between different regions and between selected SADC countries was conducted. In the summary of key findings, it was found that the definition of human trafficking as laid out in the Palermo Protocol cannot sufficiently and adequately combat human trafficking in SADC countries in its current form due to a number of reasons. Furthermore, at the institutional level it was found that the Protocols adopted by SADC do not afford all victims of trafficking protection and the Plan of Action is non-binding and faces implementation problems. At SADC country levels it was found that although twelve of the fifteen countries adopted anti-trafficking legislation, these countries struggle with compliance and implementation mechanisms, which show, that mere passing of legislation does not automatically translate to compliance. This study therefore concluded by proposing a number of options that can be explored in order to effectively prevent, and combat human trafficking in SADC. Even though this study does not offer a blueprint solution, it contributes towards the development of a model that will better be suited to address human trafficking problems at the SADC level.