Human Trafficking Crisis

Expert says SA is a source, destination and demand country of this increasing crime

- Bonolo Sekudu

THE fact that cases of human trafficking don’t often make headlines doesn’t mean that it is not happening. South Africa is actually a high risk country when it comes to this fastest increasing crime in the world. Actually, every 30 seconds a person is trafficked and one percent of those people get rescued, this according to an organisation Stop Human Trafficking of People.

LUCKY TO ESCAPE

When 22-year-old beauty therapist, Saphetha Mabona, was promised a job in Uganda, she was excited that she would be able to make a better living. Little did she know that she was being trafficked. She only found out at the airport when the Hawks rescued her after a tip-off from Interpol recently. This Eastern Cape-born woman was lucky to escape unharmed.