ANTI-TRAFFICKING EFFORTS NEAR THE S.A.-MOZAMBIQUE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 002229

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KTIP SF
SUBJECT: ANTI-TRAFFICKING EFFORTS NEAR THE S.A.-MOZAMBIQUE
BORDER

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SUMMARY
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1. On an October 21-23 field visit to rural farming areas
bordering Mozambique, emboffs investigated rights and labor
concerns including trafficking in persons (TIP). The view
from NGOs in the provincial capital was that law enforcement
was not taking sex-related TIP seriously; and that labor TIP
on farms, while believed to be limited, would likely go
undetected by officials. Closer to the border, however,
communities were more mobilized, and a recent TIP case had
been tackled in a textbook example of public-private
collaboration. Driven by the dedication of committed local
individuals, NGOs, and churches, such pockets of grass-roots
progress are popping up around South Africa. End Summary.

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PESSIMISM ON TIP AT PROVINCIAL LEVEL
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2. Emboffs' visit to rural Mpumalanga began in the
provincial capital Nelspruit, where sources felt law
enforcement officials were not taking TIP terribly seriously.
At The Rural Action Committee (TRAC-MP),Mpumalanga's
leading rural advocacy NGO, Human Rights Officer Elizabeth
'Maki' Molefe said trafficking from neighboring Mozambique
was mostly for commercial sexual exploitation, and typical
police response was to arrest and deport victims. Although
wage violations were common on farms, Molefe said most abuses
could not be characterized as TIP (or even forced labor),
since migrants (perhaps half the labor force) worked
voluntarily until they were denied benefits.


3. Labor inspectors were also seen as less than assiduous.
Molefe bemoaned a general lack of government oversight of
farms by SAG officials who preferred to remain in their
comfortable offices in town. As a result, while TRAC
believed incidence of labor TIP was low, it also felt the SAG
would be unlikely to detect any cases that might occur. In
the farmworkers' village of Nkomazi, Daphne Nkozi of the
Community Legal Advice Office went further, alleging that
labor inspectors were routinely bribed by farm owners with
boxes of produce discreetly deposited in the trunks of their
cars. (NOTE: Although we heard no accounts of labor
trafficking, the Department of Labor (SADOL) seems to be
touchy on the subject: when Pretoria headquarters learned of
our appointment with the local SADOL director, it canceled
the meeting with orders that only HQ could answer TIP
queries. End Note.)

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LOCALIZED EFFORTS TO RESCUE VICTIMS
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4. Armed with these dim views, we were later gratified by
more positive reports of localized anti-TIP action. In the
Tonga village of Nkomazi East, just 15 miles from the border,
where Portuguese is a lingua franca and polling stations were
set up for Mozambican elections, we learned of a TIP case
earlier in the week which had elicited model responses from
public and private actors. Rachel Nkosi of the Masisukumeni
Women's Crisis Centre described how a 17-year-old Mozambican
girl had fallen prey to a taxi scam, in which she was charged
an exorbitant fare at the border post and then sold to a
local man for 500 rand ($65) who forced her to pay her "debt"
through prostitution. When she became ill and was taken to a
clinic, a vigilant nurse alerted the police and the Centre,
who brought in social workers. Police not only tended to the
girl at the station's victim support facility -- collecting
forensic evidence and providing counseling -- but they also
Qforensic evidence and providing counseling -- but they also
arrested the perpetrator.

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VICTIMS' SUPPORT, AWARENESS RAISING
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5. Traumatized but now safe, the Mozambican girl was staying
at the Amazing Grace shelter in Malelane, which assists an
array of victims from street children and orphans to victims
of domestic abuse. Personnel Desmond and Given (LNU)
described trafficking as an "organized crime" in the area,
perpetrated by established criminal networks and with border
officials on the take for bribes. Taxi scams from the border
were common, in which migrants were either assessed with
excessive fares which they were then forced to work off, or
more often they were just dumped by the side of the road
before reaching their destination of Johannesburg. Children
of migrants were especially vulnerable during illegal border

PRETORIA 00002229 002 OF 002


crossings, when they could be separated from their parents
while hopping the electrified fence. Children, both South
African and foreign, were trafficked as child minders in
private households, with rescue dependent on tip-offs from
neighbors.


6. Amazing Grace had forged a working partnership with
police and government social workers to combat the problem.
The shelter had also signed a formal agreement with police at
the Komatipoort border post, who now proactively referred
victims for assistance and were "serious" on the matter of
TIP. Amazing Grace would be joining forces with the SAG's
Department for Social Development, provincial premier's
office, and police to organize awareness-raising events
during South Africa's annual December "16 Days of Awareness"
campaign to combat violence against women and children. The
shelter also worked closely with local leaders from the
Catholic Church and South African Council of Churches (SACC),
who in turn had participated in TIP awareness workshops led
by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). NGOs
had also organized a regional anti-TIP consortium -- called
MPLIMO to cover Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, and
Mozambique border areas.

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LOCAL HEROES, TURNING A TIDE
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7. COMMENT: This patchwork pattern of action to combat TIP
in Mpumalanga is representative of impressions from around
South Africa. Broadly, the TIP issue receives uneven
attention from government and police, in the absence of
(pending) comprehensive legislation on TIP. Locally,
however, there are pockets of progress, typically driven by
passionate individuals (like Maki and Rachel) and standout
NGOs (like Amazing Grace and their fellow MPLIMO members) who
take initiative to mobilize more sluggish partners. At
Amazing Grace, a "picketing" effort outside indifferent
government offices led to formal memoranda and finally to
firm partnership. While national bureaucrats chug along to
draft laws and protocols, the grass roots are where the
action is. End Comment.
GIPS