Sihlalo, malungu abekekileyo, maqabane nezihlobo, bantu belizwe lakuthi, ndivumeleni ndinibulise ngale mva kwemini egameni loomama nabantwana abaphethwe gadalala. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Ms N N SIBHIDA: Chairperson, hon members, comrades and friends, fellow countrymen, allow me to greet you this afternoon in the name of the abused women and children.]
Chairperson, hon Kopane, in her speech, forgot to mention that those women who marched in 1956 were led by the ANC. [Applause.]
I'm happy and honoured to address you in October, a month in which South Africans and people of the world celebrate the contribution of Oliver Tambo to the advancement of the cause of humanity.
Comrade O R, as he was commonly called, was a people's leader, a hero who dedicated his life to the struggle for liberation and freedom of the oppressed people in South Africa and beyond. Comrade O R knew that the system of colonialism and apartheid did not only create racial and class contradictions, but also created gender contradiction, as a result of which the majority of South African women were subjected to triple oppression. Had he been alive today, he would have been central in struggles against gender-based violence. Let us do what Comrade O R would have liked to see us doing.
Because of discrimination and the inhuman treatment of the majority of people under the apartheid system, we in the ANC believe that human dignity should be central to the values that underpin a free and democratic South Africa. Human dignity is an important value which we ensured would be at the heart of our constitutional democracy.
Our perspective in this debate derives from the Freedom Charter which envisions a society where a bill of rights guarantees fundamental rights and freedom for all. I'm talking of an inclusive society in which the dignity of all people must enjoy respect. This perspective informs our awareness of issues such as trafficking in women and children and allows us to understand them as violations of human dignity.
From the perspective of Darwinism, these vulnerable sections of our population would be doomed to perish because of their situation in society. However, our struggle continues to assert the humanness of the human spirit, and the search for societies at peace within and among themselves.
As South Africans, we are hard at work building and developing a society underpinned by values of human dignity, ubuntu, caring for all the people, especially the most vulnerable such as women and children. These women and children are vulnerable not because of their own choosing, but because they were born into and exist in societies characterised by violence against the most vulnerable people.
Trafficking in human beings and the combating of this phenomenon has received much attention and gathered momentum in the recent past. With the adoption of international instruments such as the UN Protocol on Trafficking in Persons, countries demonstrate a political commitment to combat human trafficking. This commitment also finds expression in continental instruments such as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
We would remember that the African Union, in 2002, reaffirmed the commitment to combat trafficking on the continent, as states identified the elimination of child trafficking as a priority in their respective countries.
With the ratification of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, South Africa embarked on a law reform process which will culminate in the passing of antitrafficking legislation. While our country has not yet passed comprehensive legislation on trafficking in persons, processes on developing such legislation are at a very advanced stage.
However, we have passed the Children's Act, which gives effect to the UN Protocol on Trafficking in Persons, thereby criminalising child trafficking and imposing a fine or imprisonment in respect of this crime.
While poverty may be recognised as the most visible cause of trafficking in human beings, it is the vulnerability of women and children which makes them easy targets of trafficking in human beings.
Varying degrees in stability, oppression and discrimination as well as social and cultural prejudices place women and children at greater risk. Sexual exploitation, in particular prostitution, is the most widely documented form of exploitation for trafficked women and children in Africa. Young women and children are often exploited sexually by being coerced or forced to participate in degrading activities such as prostitution, sexual servitude or the production of pornographic materials.
Some of the children are trafficked from their homes to work as domestic workers and labourers. Some commentators have linked human trafficking to the demand for particular body organs of human beings, which are supposedly required for traditional practices such as rituals and magic.
In dealing with trafficking in women and children, let us move forward with a common understanding that violence against the most vulnerable in society, especially women and children, requires us to redouble our efforts in advancing the interests of these people in our society.
As Members of Parliament, we embody the hopes and aspirations of the people. If we do not advance their cause, we would be failing to discharge our responsibilities as public representatives in this Parliament. Thank you.