Chairperson, on 1 December 1834, church bells rang out and bonfires lit up on the slopes of Table Mountain and Signal Hill, announcing Emancipation Day. When you come into Parliament at the visitors' section, you can read the story of one of the slaves who was emancipated on that day. She was a young woman named Lydia. On her back, she carried the scars of her master's sjambok. Every year on 1 December, she held a service to commemorate the abolition of slavery.
The tree where slaves were sold is just outside Parliament, as is the Slave Lodge. It was hoped then that slavery would be ended on Emancipation Day. How very disappointed would Lydia, other former slaves and the great antislavery campaigner William Wilberforce be that, some 180 years later, we have more people enslaved than in their time. This is indeed a very sad and disgraceful state of affairs, as was highlighted by the tragic incidents related by the Minister.
While there is very little empirical data about the extent of the problem in South Africa, the ACDP believes that it is in fact far more widespread than we know. One report stated: "Both anecdotal data and limited quantitative data obtained reveal a portrait of trafficking that warrants intervention on all fronts."
While MPs may be sceptical about the extent of the problem, the fact remains that even one person illegally trafficked is one person too many. The end aim of this Bill is therefore to provide stand alone legislation that addresses all forms of trafficking comprehensively and effectively. It needs to ensure that victims of trafficking are cared for in a humane and compassionate manner. We must also ensure that the offence of trafficking is dealt with severely and the Bill provides, in certain cases, for life imprisonment.
In view of the untold misery and suffering traffickers inflict upon innocent women, children and even men, we as parliamentarians demand nothing less than life imprisonment for certain of these offences.
In conclusion, William Wilberforce said:
Never, never will we desist till we have wiped away this scandal ... released ourselves from the load of guilt under which we at present labour and extinguished every trace of this bloody traffic.
We in this Parliament can do no less than emulate those noble sentiments. The battle against human trafficking begins in earnest today with the passing of this Bill. The ACDP supports this Bill enthusiastically. [Applause.]