26 Jun 2017

Members of Ntlo ya Dikgosi have been requested to be alert about human trafficking when exercising their customary leadership duties.

Deputy manager for Human Trafficking in the ministry of Defence, Justice and Security Mr Madoda Nasha told dikgosi on Wednesday to make thorough investigations before signing documents that support either relatives or any other person’s request to take away minors from their families with promise of taking care of those minors.  

Addressing a meeting of Ntlo ya Dikgosi in Gaborone, Mr Nasha said traffickers usually coerced unsuspecting and vulnerable people by pretending to help them.

“They (traffickers) usually pretend to be able to assist vulnerable people with what they are looking for. It can be a promise for love or marriage, promise for money, job opportunities or education opportunities.What they do they create a situation where they are asked for assistance,” he explained.

He said there were many cases of human trafficking that had occurred in Botswana as young people continued to fall prey to human trafficking.

Mr Nasha said Botswana was used as transit and source for human trafficking victims for markets outside the country including South Africa where there were illicit markets for forced prostitution and harvesting of human organs.

Mr Nasha said human trafficking was a big challenge affecting international security and latest reports showed that it was worth around US$150 billion per annum.

Therefore he said it was important for dikgosi and other leaders in the community to assist in the fight against this crime by reporting any suspicious activities as there was human trafficking in Botswana.

“The most common type of human trafficking cases in Botswana are domestic servitude or modern day slavery. Children from poor families are taken and made to work as domestic servants by rich relatives or in farms,” Mr Nasha said.

He said his ministry was doing intensive national campaigns to make sure that everyone was aware of human trafficking as a way of fighting this crime.

Members of Ntlo ya Dikgosi expressed gratitude for being informed about human trafficking. Kgosi Letso Malema of Bobirwa region asked the ministry of defence to train dikgosi and other offices more on human trafficking.

Kgosi Maruje Masunga of Masunga said the workshop was an eye opener for them and asked for more resources to be committed to fight this crime, especially in rural communities which he said reports indicated were the most vulnerable to human trafficking.

Kgosi Justice Moseki from Ghanzi East region said his area should be provided with more assistance in the fight against human trafficking.