Mutilation of body parts rife across Gauteng

The removal of human organs and body parts is another unseen form of human trafficking that is rife across the globe.

In Gauteng, in particular, cases of child mutilation are on the rise. This is according to the Gauteng Department of Social Development’s Phetoho Maja.

Although the Randfontein Herald isn’t aware of any incidents of human trafficking in its jurisdiction, the issue has been classified as a global problem by the United Nations Trafficking in Persons Report.

Earlier this year, the bodies of two boys aged five and six, from nearby Soweto were found mutilated. Another child was found mutilated in Tamboville in Ekurhuleni in October 2022. Some of these reports have linked this brutality to some form of ritual. According to a study by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, human organs or body parts are mutilated for reasons such as rituals, folk medicine, aesthetics, or punishment.

Meanwhile, the Gauteng Department of Social Development met with various stakeholders including the traditional healer’s association to unpack and tackle the issue of human trafficking. This was during the Trafficking in Persons seminar recently, where Gogo Brenda Selibi, who is a member of the Traditional Healers Organisation gave her opinion on human trafficking.

She said that persons who are targeted for organ removal are frequently chosen from vulnerable groups to obtain wealth and power for various social and political reasons.

“Women and children who are unable to defend themselves are more frequently attacked and killed. Many persons with albinism have been forced to leave their homes as a result of this practice to protect themselves,” said Selibi.

The director for the Social Crime Prevention and Victim Empowerment Programme at The Gauteng Department of Social Development, Pearl Moabelo, added that Gauteng is the epicentre or transit province because of the OR Tambo International Airport.

“The role of the department mainly is to raise awareness, but over and above that, to ensure that we can accommodate victims that have been rescued in terms of doing assessments.

“The head of the department then issues letters of recognition for those victims that are from outside the borders of our country and then are placed in our accredited shelters for the prosecution process to unfold. Some of the services we offer to victims are psycho-social support, skills development, and rehabilitation around intoxication and substance abuse,” concluded Moabelo.