Deputy Chair, this is the question asked by the hon Ntwanambi, the Chief Whip of the Council, on whether the police will establish a temporary or permanent specialised unit that will focus on eliminating trafficking of young girls, particularly after what happened in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the DPCI, is responsible for the investigation of all cases of human trafficking. Provincial human trafficking co-ordinators have been appointed in all provinces. They are assisted by investigators in the organised crime investigating units, whose responsibility it is to investigate human trafficking cases. The DPCI also works in a collaborative investigative approach with the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units and other relevant stakeholders when dealing with such cases.
Yes, one girl has been reunited with her family.
The answer to the next question is also yes. The SA Police Service is following up on all these cases. The investigating officer has furnished details to the media for anyone with information and the families to come forward.
The matter is currently before the court for a formal bail application. The SAPS is opposing bail, and our assessment is that there is a strong case against the accused in this matter. The investigating officer is working closely with the National Prosecuting Authority on this matter.
The girls were lured to the brothel by their so-called boyfriends. It is alleged that the suspect used to pay R500 for each girl. The boyfriends invited these girls to Durban under the pretext of arranging jobs for them. Once they arrived in Durban, they were made to work as prostitutes. The girls were under constant threat and forced to use crack cocaine, and they were also forced to work for lengthy periods daily. They received an allowance of R25, whilst the suspect charged the clients R500. This modus operandi of luring young girls is commonly referred to as the "lover boy approach".
Some girls were homeless, and friends arranged accommodation at the lodge for them. After their staying a couple of days, the suspect would inform them that they needed to earn their keep by prostitution and selling drugs for them.
The girls came from various areas in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape but most of them are from the greater Durban area. Thank you.
Chair, ndiyabulela Mphathiswa ngezi nkcukacha. [Thank you, hon Minister, for these details.]
It also tells us parents ...
... ngendlela esingakhathali ngayo. Owona mbuzo wam ngowokuba, ingaba ikhona na into eza kwenziwa, ingakumbi ngumthetho, lisebe lakho namanye amasebe ukujongana nempilo yaba bantwana kuba kusenokwenzeka bafumane izifo abangazaziyo. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... how much we do not care. My main question is whether anything will be done, especially by the judicial system, by your department and other relevant departments to take care of the welfare of these children because it is possible that they might contract serious diseases.]
Yes, Deputy Chair, as the hon Chief Whip can tell herself just by asking the question, this is a very serious matter. Perhaps that is the reason why, from the point of view of the SAPS, we decided to re-establish the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, precisely to follow this up and ensure that there is a multidisciplinary approach in government on matters affecting particularly young girls, women and the elderly, because they are the targets of such heinous crimes.
We have always emphasised the point that there is no way that the police on their own will be able to go far in dealing with such crimes. With reference to the crime statistics that we released in September last year, we can see that the area of sexual offences, particularly rape, is an area in which we have not really made significant progress. It therefore remains a concern.
When we analyse this particular type of crime, we see that most of the people who are affected are acquaintances. That is why we emphasise the point that it is up to the police, members of society and other departments of government to ensure that we take this matter very seriously. Thank you, hon Deputy Chairperson.
Hon Deputy Chair, the Minister mentioned "boyfriends" who are responsible for this type of crime. Is any action being taken against those who are responsible for this, and how many of them are being followed up by the police? Thank you.
Hon member, it is an ongoing process of investigation. These so-called "boyfriends" - and I would put it that way, that they are "so-called" - are really just kids, if you check the people that are involved there. Most of them are very young and under age. You really do not want to say that those who are called "boyfriends" are boyfriends in the true sense of the word.
I want to refer to everybody who has been involved with the continuing investigation - as I said, the investigation continues. From the point of view of the police and the National Prosecuting Authority, we are working together to ensure that those who have been apprehended in the process do not get bail, so that at the end of the day justice is meted out to these people. Thank you.
Before we proceed, I would like to say something. We have just received correspondence from the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, asking if all the questions that were supposed to be answered today could stand over for the next session. Unfortunately, she is not available.
I would like to thank the Ministers very much for coming to the NCOP and answering the questions. We hope we are going to continue engaging around this in the future.
See also QUESTIONS AND REPLIES.