Are 100,000 people trafficked annually in South Africa?

An Eyewitness News article claimed earlier this week that “South Africa ranks among the 10 countries in Africa where human trafficking is worst, with 100,000 people reportedly being trafficked in the country annually.”

Although there is little data on human trafficking in South Africa – partly because it is a difficult crime to measure – the data that is available does not back this up.

The International Organisation for Migration has projects in 85 countries to assist victims of human trafficking. It reported helping 306 victims of human trafficking in the Southern Africa region between 2004 and 2010.

In its 2012 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime stated that 235 adult and 13 child victims of human trafficking were reported by South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) between 2010 and March 2011.

To claim that 100,000 people are trafficked annually in South Africa is sensationalist. – 14/11/14

 

Additional reading

FACTSHEET: Understanding human trafficking

Are 30,000 children really ‘trafficked’ in South Africa every year? The claim exaggerates the problem