​The taxi industry in Gauteng will now play a critical role in combating human trafficking as traffickers often rely on the public transportation system to recruit, move or transfer victims of human trafficking for the purpose of exploitation of people.
This was echoed by Godfrey Dolla, taxi operator and member of the Greater Johannesburg Taxi Policing Forum during a two-day Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Seminar at Anew Hotel Parktonian in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 04 October 2023.

The seminar was organised by the Gauteng Department of Social Development to engage industry experts, particularly Researchers, Trafficking in Persons Provincial Task Teams, Social Workers and Cluster Departments to share relevant information in line with trends taking place in Gauteng Province.

Speaking during the seminar, Dolla said he was pleased to take part in the workshop as most human traffickers use their taxis to ferry victims and even pay certain drivers to transport them to their syndicates.

“The Gauteng Department of Social Development is part of our forum as a taxi industry, so we heeded their call because this silent crime happens in our taxi ranks, our towns, and in our vehicles.”

“Part of our intervention going forward is to promote the Trafficking in Persons Hotline [0800 222 777] through branding on our taxis, and billboards within the taxi ranks so that we raise awareness to our passengers. We will also continue to hand out pamphlets and host a variety of walkabouts in our communities in partnership with our stakeholders,” said Dolla.

The seminar was observed under the theme, “Reach every victim of trafficking and leave no one behind”. Every year, Trafficking in Persons Week is celebrated during the first week of October across the globe. The theme urges stakeholders to assess and strengthen prevention, identify and support victims and survivors of TIP to end impunity.

Gauteng Department of Social Development, Director for Social Crime Prevention and Victim Empowerment Programme, Pearl Moabelo added that Gauteng is the epicenter or transit province because of the O. R. Tambo International Airport.

“The role of the Department mainly is to raise awareness, but over and above that, to ensure that we are able to accommodate victims that have been rescued in terms of doing assessments.”

“The Head of Department then issues letters of recognition for those victims that are from outside the borders of our country and then are placed in our accredited shelters for the prosecution process to unfold.”

“Some of the services we offer to victims are psychosocial support, skills development and rehabilitation around intoxication and substance abuse,” said Moabelo.

She further reiterated that Trafficking in Persons prevention and awareness programmes must start with the empowerment of all stakeholders and that they become aware of the trends and new developments in the field so that they can equip communities with the relevant information while preventing the scourge.

The 2019 United Nations Report indicated that South Africa is listed under the TIER 2 Watch List. South Africa has for several years been ranked Tier 2 as it is a developing country that has always made significant efforts to meet the anti-trafficking minimum standards.