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human traffickinglatest news & developments
Visibility for casualty: Migrants are not the origin of South Africa’s
structural malaise. Photo: Regional Migrant Response Plan

Sovereignty, strain and the foreigner

The imperative is not merely to condemn xenophobia but to render it obsolete

 Judge Nathan Erasmus

Judge condemns cyberbullying as Joslin Smith kidnapping trial enters fifth week

Judge Nathan Erasmus said online harassment threatened trust in South Africa’s justice system and caused ‘suspicion’

File photo

Twenty-three South Africans back home after being held captive in Myanmar

The group were lured to Thailand with false promises of jobs but were later trafficked to Myanmar where they were held for more than four months

(Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

Africa’s busiest airport has a drug problem

A Kenyan citizen was facing execution in Vietnam. Her ordeal began with lax security at Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport

Truth on trial: State witness Lourentia Lombaard has given different versions of what happened regarding the disappearance in February 2024 of Joslin Smith

Joslin Smith: Could the state’s ‘unsophisticated’ witness sink its case?

Lourentia Lombaard, the accused-turned-state-witness in the kidnapping and trafficking trial, has repeatedly lied to police

Lourentia Lombaard burst into tears while being questioned by the judge.

Joslin Smith: State’s star witness breaks down as judge questions inconsistencies

Judge Nathan Erasmus had earlier cautioned Lourentia Lombaard that her testimony would determine her credibility

Kelly Smith, the mother of Joslin Smith.

Joslin Smith was wanted by sangoma for her ‘eyes and skin’

State witness Lourentia Lombaard continued her testimony on Monday, sharing chilling details in the kidnapping and human trafficking trial

Joshlin went missing from her home in the Middelpos informal settlement in Saldanha Bay on 19 February last year.
(Executive mayor Andrè Truter/Facebook)

Editorial | Joslin: Is the state at fault too?

Statistics are scant, but the foster care system in South Africa has its fair share of critics. There is a severe backlog, inadequate resources and a shortage of trained foster…

Joshlin went missing from her home in the Middelpos informal settlement in Saldanha Bay on 19 February last year.
(Executive mayor Andrè Truter/Facebook)

New evidence in Joshlin Smith case brought to light, says NPA

The case was postponed to 21 October, the third time this has happened to allow for further investigations into the seven-year-old’s disappearance

Joshlin Smith, of, Saldanha Bay, has been missing since 19 February 2024. Image: Sourced

Search for Joshlin Smith has reached international shores

Police Minister Bheki Cele said the police service is working with Interpol and other organisations after a tip-off that the child could be overseas This content is restricted to…

The shack in Middelpos, Saldanha Bay, where Joshlin lived with her mother Kelly and her
three-year-old sister. (David Harrison/MG)

Joshlin Smith: More blood-stained clothes sent for testing

Police confirmed that the items were found in a drain over the weekend, near the home of the six-year-old

Lourentia Lombaard appeared before the Vredenburg magistrate’s  court on charges of kidnapping and human trafficking.

Joshlin Smith: Accused abandons bail application

Police say information regarding the alleged confession will only be disclosed in court

The shack in Middelpos, Saldanha Bay, where Joshlin lived with her mother Kelly and her
three-year-old sister. (David Harrison/MG)

Community clings to hope that Joshlin Smith will be found alive

Police have dismissed rumours that the six-year-old was kidnapped for muthi, saying there was no evidence of this

(John McCann/M&G)

When crime is cloaked as religion

Religion is often the business plan of fraudsters who lie effortlessly to their congregants

Last year, former police minister Bheki Cele tabled an amendment bill meant to enhance the operational independence of Ipid and broaden its mandate to investigate serious crimes committed by police officers, regardless of whether they were on duty. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

South Africa struggles to limit human trafficking – USAID report

South Africa under-reports human trafficking cases and is poor at apprehending perpetrators

Sex workers march in Cape Town in support of sex work being legalised. An amendment to the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Bill proposes this but not everyone agrees.  (Brenton Geach/Gallo Images)

Anti-trafficking, human rights groups to reject amended sex trade bill

The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill will boost the industry and trafficking and drive it underground

Slavery: A border fence with Zimbabwe. South Africa is a destination for people kidnapped in other African countries. Photos: Paul Botes

How to tackle the rise in kidnappings, human trafficking in South Africa

South African victims as well as people from the rest of Africa and Southeast and East Asia are taken to the Middle East, the US and Europe

South African government distances itself from Cuban human trafficking claims. (Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

South African government distances itself from Cuban human trafficking claims

The Trafficking in Persons report says Cuba benefits financially from its ‘coercive’ labour export programmes to 66 countries

People with black tape on their mouth walk along the Sea Point coast as they attend a protest against human trafficking in Cape Town. (Photo by Ashraf Hendricks/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Rise in number of human trafficking victims in South Africa

The Trafficking in Persons has found that the government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so

Syndicates in Zimbabwe traffic Africans fleeing the strife in their countries to South Africa

Zimbabwe a transit site for migrants

Syndicates in Zimbabwe traffic Africans fleeing the strife in their countries to South Africa