Hundreds of Gauteng residents have marched through the streets of Randburg, north of Johannesburg to demand an end to human trafficking in the country.
More than 500 people joined the 9th annual walk which A21 – a global anti-human trafficking organisation – and the Rhema Bible church organised. Similar marches are being held in cities across the world today. The aim is to shine the spotlight on human trafficking.
A21 spokesperson Jacqueline Mapalala says, “In the last 2 weeks, we saw the global report saying that the amount of people being trafficked in SA is very high but as a country it is not managed. SA is used as a source. People are being trafficked from SA. The country is used as a transition point where people are being trafficked here from across Africa then distributed to different countries across the world and used for slavery.”
Residents who joined the march say more needs to be done to address the problem.
“I know of people that have gone through scary events where they thought they were being trafficked so this is to raise awareness because we don’t know who needs to hear this,” says one.
“As a mom it’s important to let other mums know how to take care and be aware of where your children are. There is always help,” is another resident’s sentiment.
Another says, “For me, it’s to stand up for the people that cannot speak for themselves because we see this thing happening and we don’t take a stand to protect people.”
The video below has more on the march:
