March 21, 2013Produced byFrank Ferro
The Mpumalanga Province has become a hotbed for the trafficking of children for sexual purposes, mainly due to the province’s proximity to the Mozambique and Swaziland borders. In a high profile case that is currently before the courts, a wealthy Mpumalanga businessman with strong political ties has been charged with nine counts of rape and human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Sixty-year old Lloyd Mabuza is the alleged offender, accused of being behind this exploitation of young girls.
On Special Assignment this week we expose this disturbing phenomenon where children as young as nine years have allegedly been sold into sexual slavery in South Africa. Our investigation has discovered that Mabuza’s alleged co-accused; his 22-year old Mozambican housekeeper was arrested for allegedly not reporting the crime to the police. In an exclusive interview with Special Assignment, Chauke says she was first introduced to this trade at the age of 14 when she was trafficked from Mozambique under the pretext that she would further her studies in South Africa. She claims that she was also sexually abused by her perpetrator. Her sister who is on the run from the police is alleged to have recruited five girls aged between 9 and 15 years to be sexually exploited by the same alleged offender. The Mozambican Consulate in Nelspruit says due to the dire economic situation in their country, parents are selling their children for as little as one thousand rand. This is confirmed by Father Jean Pierre from the Malelane Catholic Church, who has also dealt with cases of human trafficking at his parish. In addition, he says that while most young girls are trafficked across the border to be forced to become sex slaves to older men, others are trafficked and killed for their body parts to be used for muti purposes. The proposed law to combat human trafficking in South Africa – the Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill – was passed by the National Assembly last year and is now at the National Council of Provinces. However, children’s rights activists have expressed concern with the slow pace of this process, aimed at protecting women and children who are the main victims of this crime. The lack of legislation has meant that the justice system is compelled to use fragments of other laws to prosecute wrongdoing, which very often proves to be ineffective in the successful conviction of offenders.
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