BOIPATONG.- The Gauteng Department of Social Development has called on communities to remain vigilant against human trafficking and report suspected cases, as the province intensifies efforts to prevent human trafficking and protect vulnerable people.

A ‘Provincial Trafficking in Person Awareness Campaign’ was held Boipatong on Friday.

This is where community partners raised awareness about how traffickers recruit and exploit victims, while providing communities with information available support services.

Trafficking in person involves the recruitment, transportation or control of people for the purpose of exploitation, and traffickers often target vulnerable people through seemingly attractive opportunities including promises of employment, better income, travel or modelling opportunities.

The Gauteng MEC for Social Development, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, said that community members have an important role to play in preventing trafficking by recognising the warning signs and reporting the suspected cases.

“Human trafficking thrives in secrecy and this is why an informed and vigilant community is one of our strongest lines of defense. We must ensure that our children, young people, women and other vulnerable members of the society understand that what may appear to be an opportunity can sometimes be a carefully planned trap”, said Nkomo-Ralehoko.

The seriousness of trafficking was brought home by the testimony of a survivor, Thabo Molote, (not his real name), who shared experience of being recruited and taken to a foreign country after being promised a better employment opportunity.

I was young and unemployed.

Molote said he was young and unemployed when he was approached with promises of better income and an opportunity to work oversees.

“I was young and unemployed and when they promised me that I will be working overseas and earn a better income I was excited thinking that now I will take my family out of poverty”, he said.

Instead, he found himself under the control of traffickers and subjected to harsh conditions.

“We were working 24 hours, not eating food that we are used to, and were guarded 24/7 with no communication to anyone back home”, added Molote.

He urged communities to protect one another and remain alert to suspicious recruitment offers.

Also addressing residents, Captain Lefa Lebitso, from the HAWKS, educated communities about how traffickers operate, the warning signs to look out for, and the importance of reporting suspected cases to the relevant authorities.

“You can even be trafficked by a person that you know, a person that is close to your family.”

Lebitso encouraged residents to remain vigilant, share information and work closely with the law enforcement and social development stakeholders to prevent trafficking and support victims and survivors.