14/06/2003 20:34 - (SA)
SA soft on trade in people
JIMMY SEEPE
A WAR of words has broken out between South Africa and the United States over a report by the US State Department that claims the country is failing to combat the trafficking of women and children.
The report, released by US Secretary of State Colin Powell and made available locally, suggests South Africa has failed to stamp out human trafficking by not enacting tough laws to prohibit, punish and enforce the worldwide ban on human trafficking.
The report, "The Third Annual Report on Trafficking in Persons", says: "The government of South Africa does not fully comply with the minimun standards for the elimination of trafficking."
As such, it suggests South Africa now thrives on sex tourism, which is increasing.
It slammed South Africa for not having a comprehensive anti-trafficking law and called on the government to work fast to "expedite the enactment of anti-trafficking legislation, commit more resources to understaffed police units and provide temporary status and protection for foreign trafficking victims".
The justice department moved quickly to denounce the report, suggesting it did not recognise the enormous efforts of the government to enact laws to deal with human trafficking.
Justice department spokesperson Paul Setsetse rejected the report and the rating it gave to the government.
He said the rating did not adequately recognise the measures the government has taken to stop the trafficking in people.
Diplomatic officials expressed concern that the report wanted to cast doubt on some of the measures SA was taking.
Diplomats said the claims made in the report were simply not true as SA had signed various United Nations charters that protect the rights of women and children.
US officials in Pretoria were un willing to discuss the report.
The US report, which ranked various countries according to three tiers, lumped SA alongside countries like Rwanda, the Demo cratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Uganda, Israel, Canada, Jamaica and the People's Republic of China as states that were failing to comply with the minimum standards of regulation to eliminate trafficking in women and children.
Only three African countries - Benin, Ghana and Morocco - were conforming to the standards.
According to guidelines laid down in the report, the first tier of conformity covers those countries that have fully complied with the minimum standards to combat trafficking.
The second tier covers countries which do not fully comply but are making efforts to, and the third tier applies to those countries whose governments do not comply at all and are not making any effort to comply.
The report suggests that although 20 sexual-offences courts are handling trafficking cases in SA, the country still relies heavily on non- governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide protection for witnesses.
"Non-governmental organisa tions provide shelter, medical and legal assistance for child prostitutes and a hotline for victims of child abuse."
It said the government has only donated land and buildings for various shelters for victims of sexual abuse, street children and orphans.
"South Africa is a destination country for women trafficked from other parts of Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia and the former Soviet Union for commercial sexual exploitation. South African women and children are also trafficked internally for labour and commercial sexual exploitation.
"Powerful trafficking syndicates from Russia, Thailand, China and Nigeria control much of the sex trade. Sex tourism is also increasing. South Africa is a country of transit for trafficking operations between developing countries and Europe, the United States and Canada."
South Africa had failed in several areas to comply with the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking. It had failed to prohibit trafficking and punish acts of trafficking; to prescribe punishment consistent with the gravity of the crime; to prescribe punishment that was sufficiently harsh to discourage the crime, and to make any serious and sustained effort to eliminate human trafficking.
However, Setsetse insisted the government had taken adequate legal measures to prohibit human trafficking.
"We have apprehended a lot of people who were involved in trafficking of persons. We have also as sisted many victims of human trafficking to return to their country of origin," he said.
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