According to South Africa’s minister of police, Bheki Cele, children in the country are being sold online through social media platforms such as Facebook.
Cele stated that in November last year, police were made aware of incidents of parents advertising children on social media platforms.
Despite the police being aware of the cases, Cele says that the country’s crime intelligence did not have the resources to address the issue but that it is in the process of acquiring social media monitoring solutions.
One ministry which seems to be trying to deal with the issue is that of social development. According to Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, some of the measures being employed to address child trafficking via social media include monitoring of such platforms and training relevant stakeholders in combating the issue.
According to a 2022 US Department of State human trafficking report, the South African government identified 83 trafficking victims over the reporting period, which ran from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022. This is far more than the 16 victims identified in the previous reporting period.
Additionally, the report also places South Africa in the second-worst tier of countries failing to have sufficient anti-human trafficking standards in place.
