Human trafficking is eroding our societies traffickers most of the time target people from rural areas or those who live in poverty and are desperate to change their situation. On the 04 April, the Department of Police, Roads and Transport’s Social Crime Prevention Unit held a campaign to teach learners and people in Tikwana, Hoopstad, about the devastation caused by human trafficking. Two high Schools Relekile and Tikwana, were visited.
Mr. Litaba Mohapi, Assistant Director in Social Crime Prevention, told the learners” Human trafficking is not about being a sex slave only. Human trafficking transpires in many ways such as forced marriages, involuntary labor, drug trafficking, the harvesting and selling of body parts and abduction to be recruited as soldiers in rebel war on the continent and abroad.
Usually, the traffickers are people who are well known, respected and trusted in a community. They scout around for their ideal targets and then promise them jobs or scholarship overseas, but once you have ‘signed up you’, you will find it was all a scam and you are in deep trouble. “Nothing for Mahala Bana Baka, bana amogelang Maemo a malapa a Lona ka mokgwa aleng kateng” said Mr. Mohapi.
The main event of the day took place at Solomon Mahlangu hall where Mr. Mohapi made the community aware of human trafficking and explained that this scourge has been happening for a long time. He made an example of Sarah Bartman, the first black women who were lured to Europe in 1810 with a promise of fame and riches but was exhibited on stage in a cage as a freak known as “The Hottentot Venus”.
