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Home Affairs’ ‘child trafficking’ cases don’t stand up to examination

Source: Tourism Update, 12/05/2017


Home Affairs has revealed that some of the cases it reported as child
trafficking, actually involved parental abduction and illegal
adoption.


Earlier this year, the Department of Home Affairs made headlines with
claims that 15 child trafficking cases had been detected at OR Tambo
Airport, Johannesburg.


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 their policy.


Tourism Update 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 Department of Home Affairs said when introducing the requirement,
that this was ostensibly to stop children being moved illegally â€" 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 â€" but Africa
Check’s research found that the numbers were not backed up by
research.


Apparently, the DHA also can’t back up 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 â€" as some involved parental abduction and illegal
adoption.


In response to e-mailed questions, Tebogo Phokanoko, Deputy Director
at 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.

Phokanoko was specifically asked how many
instances of child trafficking there were, and did not provide one
example.


However, Phokanoko 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 Phokanoko.


In some cases, the department had to liaise with Department of Social
Development, the South African Police Service and National Prosecuting
Authority, says Phokanoko.


Phokanoko adds 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 & 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 backed up 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, as noting 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.


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