Admin
10 Nov, 2025
From job offer to captivity: how human traffickers prey on South Africa’s desperate
Statement by Zandile Phiri, Acting Secretary General of the United Democratic Movement Human trafficking in South Africa has become a national emergency hiding in plain sight. It is destroying lives through sexual exploitation, forced labour, and debt bondage, and it thrives on poverty, desperation, and the failures of the state to coordinate an effective response. Recent reports have exposed the scale of this crisis. Three young women from Botswana were rescued at OR Tambo International Airport after being lured through social media with false promises of lucrative jobs in Sierra Leone. A 22-year-old woman from Bonteheuwel was tricked into travelling to Thailand, later trafficked to Cambodia, and forced into work after her passport was confiscated. In Johannesburg, seven Chinese nationals were convicted earlier this year of human trafficking after exploiting more than ninety Malawian workers, including thirty-three minors, in a garment factory where they were kept under guard and paid R65 a day. In the past year, investigations have revealed houses in Sandton, Johannesburg, and Durban where dozens of foreign nationals were held captive by trafficking syndicates. In one incident in March 2025, more than 50 people escaped from a house in Lombardy East, and in May 2025, 44 victims were rescued from a locked property in Parkmore, Sandton. Similar discoveries have been made in Durban, exposing a network that uses residential properties as holding sites for victims awaiting transport across borders. It is reported that less than one percent of victims is ever rescued. At the centre of this tragedy are employment scams that promise opportunity but deliver slavery. These operations exploit South Africa’s severe unemployment, preying on people desperate for income or a chance to work abroad. Our joblessness has become a recruitment tool for traffickers, and the state has done too little to close that door. The problem is compounded by weak coordination among law-enforcement agencies, poor data collection, and a lack of capacity in social services. Police, immigration, labour inspectors, and welfare officials often work in isolation, while traffickers move people freely across borders and provinces. Corruption and bureaucracy slow down victim identification, shelter placements, and prosecutions. South Africa’s porous borders worsen the crisis. Traffickers exploit weak controls and under-resourced posts to move victims alongside migrants and contraband. Until border management is tightened, corruption addressed, and regional intelligence improved, the country will remain a key corridor for trafficking across southern Africa. The United States Trafficking in Persons Report has again warned that South Africa is failing to identify victims, prosecute offenders, or coordinate a national response. The country’s placement on the Tier 2 Watchlist signals growing international concern over its weak efforts to combat trafficking. Unless coordination and enforcement improve, South Africa risks further sanctions and the erosion of its global credibility on human rights. The UDM calls for decisive action to break this cycle of exploitation and neglect: 1. A national anti-trafficking strategy led by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, bringing together the South African Police Service (SAPS), Department of Home Affairs, Department of Employment and Labour, Department of Social Development, and reputable civil society organisations under one command structure with measurable targets and real accountability. 2. Public awareness and prevention campaigns coordinated by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, in partnership with Basic and Higher Education, to educate communities about fake job offers, social-media recruitment, and passport confiscation; especially in provinces with high unemployment such as Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and the Eastern Cape. 3. Protection and reintegration services for victims managed by the Department of Social Development and provincial governments, with the support of accredited NGOs, to ensure safe shelters, counselling, and job placement programmes so survivors can rebuild their lives without fear or stigma. 4. Enforcement of labour laws and regulation of recruiters overseen by the Department of Employment and Labour and the SAPS, with heavy penalties for those who exploit undocumented workers, confiscate passports, or deceive jobseekers. Inspections must be routine and unannounced, and corrupt officials must be prosecuted. 5. Investment in youth employment and skills development driven by the Departments of Employment and Labour, Trade, Industry and Competition, and Higher Education and Training, working alongside the National Youth Development Agency and private sector partners. Preventing trafficking begins with creating real, sustainable opportunities at home through job creation, apprenticeships, and skills programmes that give young people viable alternatives to risky job offers and exploitation. 6. Strengthened cross-border cooperation spearheaded by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the Border Management Authority, working with SADC partners to dismantle trafficking networks, share intelligence, and ensure the safe repatriation of victims. Human trafficking is not only a criminal enterprise but a profound moral failure that strikes at the heart of our nation’s values. South Africa cannot claim to be a democracy that protects human rights while allowing syndicates to trade in human lives with impunity. The UDM calls on government to act with urgency, unity, and compassion to protect the vulnerable, prosecute the guilty, and restore integrity to our borders and institutions. Every victim rescued is a life reclaimed, but true victory will come only when no person in South Africa can be bought, sold, or enslaved.
Admin
31 Jul, 2017
UDEMWO commends swift rescue of SA woman from human trafficking operation
Statement issued by Thandi Nontenja – UDEMWO Secretary General The United Democratic Movement Women’s Organisation (UDEMWO) is pleased with the result of the joint operation that led to the swift rescue of Princess Mahlangu who fell victim, alongside women from various other countries, to a human trafficking operation. This incident adds to the widespread pandemic of exploitation of women in South Africa. Her story is one of many South African women who become victims of crime while in search of better life. This case is also a harsh lesson about the impact of social media on our society. Although social media can have a positive effect on people’s interconnectedness and their access to information, more should be done to educate our people – especially young South Africans – about the dangerous and criminal elements who use social media to abuse vulnerable people. We commend Police Minister Fikile Mbalula for asking for the intervention of Interpol and the Hawks, which led to the exposure of this criminal enterprise. End
Admin
24 Apr, 2015
Statement By The President Of The Republic On The Violence In Kwazulu-natal
Address Mr BH Holomisa MP in the National Assembly Hon Speaker and members A country with high levels of poverty, high unemployment rate, high levels of inequality, blended with leadership whose attention is on filling their pockets through corrupt activities, breeds all social evils including criminality. Compounding the situation is that the African Agenda we were once known to be its champions, has taken a back seat. We must agree that, indeed the violence we see today in KZN with a potential to spread to other provinces can be best described as recklessness, inhumane, barbaric and criminal. This debate must immensely contribute to the stoppage of this inhumanity in the history of our democracy. We must also acknowledge that the levels of lawlessness in this country are increasing daily, this has to come to a stop, if we are to redeem our image and attract investors as a country. To respond and address this situation a number of things needs to be done immediately; amongst are the following: • An immediate Presidential visit to the Kingdom of the Zulu nation has to done immediately after this house concludes this debate to share with the King the spirit of the house on this important matter. (Nxamalala ndikulungele ukuhamba nawe siyo Phunga ne Silo Samabandla) • We must contain the current situation in KZN by amongst others enforce the law to the fullest. Such a step must communicate to all, that South Africa is not a lawless society. • The state of our intelligence services requires urgent attention because these activities should have been detected before their occurrence. • Special police units as well as special courts to deal with incidents of sporadic lawlessness must be established nationally. • A comprehensive audit must be conducted on foreigners already in our country, what are they doing where, how and with whom are they engage in those activities. This will help to expose those who are in the country for wrong reasons like corrupt activities including drug and human trafficking. • The poor and slack labour relations regime with regard to foreigners within our labour market needs and urgent review. Included to this is to ensure that those who trade, do so in accordance with the applicable laws of the country. • Aggressively reduce unemployment by amongst others, create more entrepreneurs on soft skills to run small business in the township, salons, small shops, car washes and others. Target young people in particular, train them in these areas and providing seed funding and support to run sustainable business. • Build a sense of responsibility and collectivism amongst the people, motivate them to move away from hand out syndrome into action for their livelihood. • Implement a civic education programme on Africanism targeting young people in-particular to change attitudes towards other Africans and citizens of the world. • We must revisit our policies on people entering and leaving South Africa to ensure full control of our borders. In the words of Kwame Krumah, “Africa must Unite”. I thank you
