‘Slavery’ sounds like a chilling word from long ago, something that we see in historical movies. Up to the banning of most slavery way back in the mid-1800s it was widely accepted. In some regions, especially the Middle East and North Africa, the practice continued, and abolition only happened in the early 20th century. (In Mauritania slavery has existed for 2000 years and it was only made illegal in 1981.) But today it is agreed worldwide that slavery is a cruelty that belongs in the past. This is stated in Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which most countries have signed.

Today, the Bill of Rights in our South African Constitution therefore also says:
12. Freedom and security of the person
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right- (a) not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause.

So why, in this modern age of human rights, do we also include the following clause?
13. Slavery, servitude and forced labour
No one may be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour.

Because many respected organisations say there are more ‘slaves’ now than at any time in history! One, the International Labour Organization, estimated in 2002 that 1,2 million children alone are trafficked each year. (A child is defined as someone under 18.)

‘Trafficked’ is the key word. It refers to the kind of modern ‘slavery’ shown in Lamb to the Slaughter. Human trafficking is a huge, underground, global business. People are kidnapped, sold, bribed, tricked or forced physically or by poverty or war into domestic slavery, sex work, pornography, begging syndicates, agricultural or industrial work or child soldiering. All of this work is for little or no pay. Many, many are children, like Babalwa in the story.

Let’s define the terms. A ‘slave’ is a person who is owned and is forced to do what their owner wants. Most are not paid and are treated harshly. They can be sold or given away, like a domestic animal. ‘Servitude’ is when you are under the control of someone more powerful, unable to disobey them, as Babalwa was. ‘Forced labour’ is when someone is made to do work, often in unhealthy or dangerous conditions and for little or no pay. ‘Trafficking’ is illegal trading, for example in people or drugs.

People are trafficked across international borders and between rural and urban areas in South Africa, and between cities. Regionally most trafficking is from Mozambique to South Africa. A recent 2015 US report into international trafficking says Nigerian, Russian and Chinese gangs traffic women into South Africa for the sex trade, especially Thai women.

In South Africa trafficking is not a major problem yet: in 2014 we were ranked 126th out of 167 countries with slaves by the Walk Free Foundation. It publishes a Global Slavery Index every year: Click here. Mauritania is by far the worst with over 10% of its people slaves, followed by Uzbekistan, Haiti, Qatar, India and Pakistan.

But, one slave is too many, and a local child rights group, Molo Songolo, says that trafficking here is increasing. There is more child prostitution, growing sex tourism and more corruption among police and border officials. HIV and Aids has left us with a huge number of orphans who are easy targets for traffickers. As in Lamb to the Slaughter, broken families and communities and too few child support services make the situation worse.

The Head of SAPS communications, Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale, said recently that between 2012 and 2014 kidnapping increased by 59%, with about 2000 cases reported. He said: “This is a huge concern for us because we are seeing a number of people that are being trafficked inside the country. We also see people being taken out of the country, where they are being used to traffic drugs and used as sex slaves.”

Countries need specific laws to prevent trafficking. Our Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act was made law in 2013, and is at last about to come into operation. We have strict new visa and travel regulations. For example, anyone travelling with a child under 18 must be able to show the child’s original birth certificate. Hopefully the new law will mean more targeted raids and prosecutions – and more freed slaves.

*Note that our Child Rights story I Can be Someone and the linked resource material is also relevant to this topic.