18 Jul 2019

Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Shaw Kgathi has told Parliament that 21 cases of human trafficking had been detected since the enactment of the Anti-Human Trafficking Act of 2014.

Mr Kgathi said all cases were investigated and one case had been completed. He said the accused was convicted and sentenced to a wholly suspended prison sentence. In addition, Minister Kgathi said 16 cases had been registered before the courts and were at various stages of prosecution.

He also added that two cases were classified as domestic human trafficking, but were eventually closed due to insufficient evidence to prosecute.

“The ministry follows pre-existing written guiding procedures from the Department of Social Protection for handling persons in need of protection,” he said Specially elected MP, Mr Mephato Reatile had asked the minister if there had been any cases of human trafficking detected, investigated and prosecuted since the implementation of the Human Trafficking Act of 2014, and if so, to state the number of cases that were detected, investigated and prosecuted.

He further asked how many were classified as domestic human trafficking and whether there were any formal written procedures specific to guiding the handling of identified victims of human trafficking. ENDS