36/1/4/1/200900209
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO 2038
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 2 NOVEMBER 2009
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 26 - 2009)
Date reply submitted : 15 December 2009
Mrs D A Schäfer (DA) to ask the Minister of Police:
Whether the special task team that was created in July 2002 for the purpose
of dealing with human trafficking still exists; if not, why not; if so, (a)
where is it located, (b) how many staff are employed in this unit, (c) what
are their ranks and (d) how many (i) cases have they dealt with (ii)
prosecutions have been instituted and (iii) people have been convicted of
traffic-related offences (aa) in 2004-05, (bb) in 2005-06, (cc) in 2006-07,
(dd) in 2007-08, (ee) in 2008-09, and (ff) during the period 1 April 2009
up to the latest specified date for which information is available?
NW2690E
REPLY:
Yes.
(a) The National Task Team is located within the Sexual Offences and
Community Affairs Unit (SOCA) of the National Prosecuting Authority.
(b) There are no full-time staff members appointed in the National Task
Team. Task Team members represent the following departments and
organisations only on a âneeds basisâ:
⢠Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
(Legislation directorate)
⢠South African Police Service (Organised Crime and Ports of Entry
components)
⢠Department of Home Affairs (Inspectorate)
⢠Department of Labour
⢠Department of Social Development
⢠International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
⢠United Nationâs Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
⢠Molo Songololo (NGO)
⢠South African Revenue Service (SARS)
c) The staff at the Programme Coordinating Unit (PCU) comprises of a
National Coordinator (Chief Director), a Project Manager (Director)
and an Administrator (Chief Administrative Assistant).
d) (i)-(iii) The National Task Team does not keep statistics in terms of
the only legislation which criminalises a form of trafficking in
persons, ie âPart 6: Transitional provisions relating to trafficking
in persons for sexual purposesâ in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences
and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 (Act No 32 of 2007), which
came into operation on 16 December 2007, due to the transitional
nature of the provisions.
Reply to question 2038 approved by Minister