U.S. Dep't of State, 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report: South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA (Tier 2 Watch List) The Government of South Africa does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Despite making significant efforts to do so, it did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period. Therefore, South Africa was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List. Significant efforts included launching the country’s first sub-provincial task team and convicting more traffickers.

However, the government identified fewer victims, investigated fewer cases, and initiated fewer prosecutions. Agencies responsible for identifying, referring, and certifying trafficking victims lacked coordination, and knowledge gaps in understanding human trafficking and referral SOPs hindered overall protection efforts. Due to inadequate and inconsistent screening, the government did not take effective measures to prevent the inappropriate penalization of potential victims solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. Victim services remained insufficient, and delays in certifying victims denied some victims access to timely emergency shelter and services.

Law enforcement continued to lack the necessary training to effectively identify and refer trafficking victims to care. Reports of low-level official corruption and complicity in trafficking crimes persisted, hindering overall anti-trafficking efforts. The government failed to adopt the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) implementing regulations to operationalize the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act’s (PACOTIP) provisions. PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS: Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, including complicit officials, which should involve significant prison terms.

Using the SOPs for victim identification and referral to care, proactively identify trafficking victims by screening for trafficking indicators during law enforcement operations and labor inspections, and among vulnerable populations, including migrant workers, individuals in commercial sex, refugees and asylum seekers, undocumented migrant children, and Cuban regime-affiliated workers, and systematically refer trafficking victims to care. Adopt and apply the DHA PACOTIP implementing regulations, including by issuing identification documents to all trafficking victims. Institutionalize annual training and significantly increase resources for front-line officials to effectively use SOPs, distinguish trafficking in persons from other crimes, refer victims to protection services, and apply trauma-informed techniques. Ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.

Ensure the National Intersectoral Committee on Trafficking in Persons (NICTIP) submits an annual report to Parliament, as PACOTIP requires. Increase collaboration between the Department of Social Development (DSD) and law enforcement in victim identification. Implement a confidential reporting mechanism for allegations of official corruption and complicity in trafficking crimes. Certify victims regardless of their participation in criminal justice proceedings.

Accredit more shelters to accommodate child victims, male victims, or victims who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Implement and consistently enforce strong regulations and oversight of labor recruitment companies, including by holding fraudulent labor recruiters criminally accountable. Ratify the International Law Commission Protocol 29’s 2014 amendment tasking non-law enforcement officials with identifying trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government decreased anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. PACOTIP criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of up to life in prison, a fine of up to 100 million South African rand ($5.3 million), or both. The penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with those for other grave crimes, such as rape. In the previous reporting period, the Minister of Home Affairs approved the implementing regulations for PACOTIP’s immigration provisions, but Parliament has not adopted them; therefore, critical sections of the act remained inactive for the 12th consecutive year.

The Criminal Law (Sexual Offenses and Related Matters) Amendment Act of 2007 also criminalized sex trafficking of children and adults and prescribed penalties of up to life in prison. The amended Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997 criminalized forced labor and prescribed maximum penalties of three to six years’ imprisonment. In addition, the Children’s Amendment Act of 2005 prescribed penalties of five years to life in prison or fines for the use, procurement, or offer of a child for slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, or to commit crimes. Prosecutors sometimes used the Prevention of Organized Crime Act of 1998 to bring additional charges – such as money laundering, racketeering, or criminal gang activity – which increased penalties.

The government reported investigating 13 trafficking cases, compared with 156 in the previous reporting period. The government reported initiating prosecutions of 57 suspects (20 for sex trafficking, 13 for forced labor, and 24 for unspecified forms of trafficking) and continued the prosecution of 148 suspects from prior reporting periods, compared with initiating the prosecution of 123 suspects during the previous reporting period. The government convicted 27 traffickers – 15 for sex trafficking, 11 for labor trafficking, and one for unspecified trafficking – compared with 12 in the previous reporting period. Courts sentenced traffickers to sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.

Because some officials conflated trafficking crimes with forced marriage or illegal adoption without the purpose of exploitation, some of the cases contained elements inconsistent with the international law definition of trafficking. Observers expressed concern with few trafficking prosecutions compared to the scale of the problem. After an eight-year investigation, a court acquitted a high-profile suspect accused of trafficking crimes; observers said the acquittal was an example of how a lack of training and resources affects trafficking prosecutions. A court convicted seven Chinese nationals of exploiting 91 Malawians, including 37 children, in forced labor in a Johannesburg factory.

The government reported a need for improved investigator-prosecutor coordination. Observers noted the South African Police Service (SAPS) was understaffed and under-resourced, hindering anti-trafficking efforts. An international organization reported police sometimes prioritized investigating cases of physical abuse over cases of online sexual exploitation, including trafficking. Observers reported police and prosecutors struggled to investigate and prosecute multi-victim cases.

SAPS designated an anti-trafficking coordinator in each province but no officers solely to anti-trafficking efforts. Observers reported SAPS was sometimes slow to investigate leads other law enforcement agencies generated. Observers reported investigators and prosecutors were overtasked with too many cases – of trafficking and other crimes – resulting in case backlogs. Corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns, inhibiting law enforcement action.

Observers and officials continued to report widespread corruption, particularly in DHA and SAPS. Observers reported some law enforcement officials accepted bribes and sometimes returned victims to trafficking situations. Some traffickers operated with impunity due to connections with high-ranking officials. Observers reported high-level law enforcement officials obstructed trafficking investigations.

Authorities often heavily relied on victim testimony without using investigative techniques to corroborate evidence. Civil society reported a need for a safe mechanism to report corruption due to distrust in law enforcement and fear of violent retaliation. An international organization reported 58 pending and 12 new allegations of sexual exploitation with trafficking indicators against South African peacekeepers deployed to the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); the government did not report taking accountability measures during the reporting period. In collaboration with NGOs, international organizations, banks, and universities, the government provided anti-trafficking training to police, prosecutors, and immigration officials.

SAPS did not biannually train every front-line official on combating human trafficking as its regulations require. Law enforcement agencies lacked sufficient training and resources to adequately investigate all reported trafficking cases. Observers reported law enforcement had insufficient training in trauma-informed interviewing and victim care, which retraumatized victims. Observers also reported the low conviction rate and sometimes years-long delays in cases dissuaded some victims from participating in trials.

The government reported SAPS collaborated with INTERPOL and the U.S. government in anti-trafficking law enforcement operations and judicial proceedings.

PROTECTION

The government decreased protection efforts. The government identified and referred to care 234 victims – seven of labor trafficking, 66 of sex trafficking, and 161 of unspecified forms of trafficking – compared with 291 the previous reporting period. Observers reported inconsistent screening for trafficking indicators resulted in the government under-identifying victims, particularly in mining, where forced labor was prevalent. Lack of government oversight, particularly screening, contributed to dangerous conditions and deaths, especially in illegal mines.

Officials conflating human trafficking and other crimes also led to misidentifying trafficking victims as victims of other crimes. Although agencies used their SOPs to identify and refer trafficking victims to care, they implemented them inconsistently. The government lacked reliable translation and interpretation services for trafficking screenings and criminal justice proceedings; some victims were reluctant to use Thai or Chinese embassy-provided interpreters for fear of retribution due to a lack of confidentiality. Inconsistent use of formal identification procedures and a lack of victim-centered and trauma-informed approaches limited opportunities for authorities to identify trafficking victims among individuals detained, deported, or inappropriately penalized for offenses committed as a direct result of being trafficked, including immigration offenses.

Observers reported some victims were afraid to report their cases to law enforcement for fear of deportation and gaps and discrimination in screening among foreign nationals hindered law enforcement efforts. The government reported providing trafficking victims with shelter, food, interpreters, medical care, psycho-social support, vocational training, and transportation. The government collaborated with NGOs to provide services to some victims repatriated to South Africa. Observers reported officials’ lack of training, poor understanding of agency responsibilities, and limited coordination delayed victims from receiving care.

Some officials violated the law by requiring some victims to participate in investigations to access services. Observers reported instances of long DSD victim certification delays, which denied some victims timely emergency shelter and services. Provincial Task Teams (PTTs) sometimes helped victims obtain DSD certification. The government reported uncertified victims could receive services; however, it did not report how many did so.

Observers reported understaffed child protection service providers resulted in victim assistance delays. Observers reported SAPS and DSD sometimes left victims at police stations overnight if their cases were opened near the end of or after the traditional workday. Western Cape DSD and Department of Health SOPs permitted victim medical and psychological assessments before certification. The Western Cape DSD re-contracted with an NGO to provide services to adult victims.

The government accredited 20 NGO multipurpose shelters – at least one in each province – that provided services to trafficking victims, compared with 19 in the previous reporting period. Victims could not leave shelters without police escorts. Some shelters could host victims beyond six months. The government funded NGO shelters on a per-victim, per-night basis, although private donors funded more than half of shelters’ budgets.

Observers reported too few shelters and too little government funding hindered overall protection efforts. The accreditation of the only shelter serving male victims expired during the reporting period. Government-managed Child and Youth Care Centers could also provide shelter to trafficking victims. The government also operated a network of 65 Thuthuzela Care Centers to assist victims of violence, including trafficking.

Trafficking victims participating in criminal justice proceedings could testify via video and could access psychological support. The government reported victims participated in criminal justice proceedings. NGOs reported victims feared retaliation after judges released traffickers on bail. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and NGOs could provide trafficking victims legal assistance.

Experts reported rural women sometimes lacked access to law enforcement to report crimes, including trafficking. PACOTIP allowed judges to order victim restitution in trafficking cases, but none did so during the reporting period. The law allowed the government to seize traffickers’ assets and award compensation to trafficking victims, but it has never done either. The law guarantees the same benefits to foreign victims and South African victims; however, foreign victims faced additional barriers to access care and justice, such as discrimination, including by law enforcement.

PACOTIP bars deporting foreign trafficking victims and requires issuing them visas if they participate in criminal justice proceedings or if they would face danger in their home countries, but Parliament did not adopt PACOTIP’s implementing regulations, and the government issued no such visas. Observers reported DHA did not help repatriate foreign victims; some foreign missions did not respond to the government’s requests for collaboration. DHA refused to provide identification to refugee children, resulting in schools denying admission, which increased vulnerabilities to trafficking. Foreign victims reported distrusting shelters due to mistreatment and fear of deportation.

Observers reported a lack of shelter for foreign national child victims prevented SAPS from referring them to services. The law barred undocumented trafficking victims from working, even when cooperating with law enforcement and even though their trials sometimes lasted years.

PREVENTION

The government maintained mixed efforts to prevent trafficking. The government coordinated anti-trafficking efforts through NPA/Department of Justice and Constitutional Development-chaired NICTIP, which met four times. The government implemented its 2023-2026 National Policy Framework on the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons (NPF), which it developed in consultation with NGOs and survivor experts. The government spent 20,400 South African rand ($1,080) on trafficking prevention in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, compared with 2.96 million South African rand ($157,000) in the preceding fiscal year.

The National Rapid Response Team coordinated trafficking investigations and victim identifications and referrals. The nine PTTs coordinated provincial policies and implemented the NPF locally; Provincial Rapid Response Teams responded to potential trafficking cases. During the reporting period, in Beaufort West, Western Cape launched an anti-trafficking Local Task Team – the country’s first. Observers noted some agencies’ inconsistent NICTIP and PTT meeting participation hindered overall efforts.

In collaboration with NGOs and international organizations, the government provided anti-trafficking training to maritime safety officers, social workers, hospital staff, traditional leaders, and foreign diplomats. The government did not comprehensively monitor or investigate forced labor of adults or children in agriculture, mining, or construction. In collaboration with international organizations, the Labor Department trained inspectors on the SOPs and child labor laws; however, inspectors lacked training to effectively identify trafficking. Observers reported the government did not have sufficient inspectors and safety concerns prevented inspections in high crime areas, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal province (KZN).

The government reported conducting 308,799 inspections in 2024, during which inspectors identified and referred to services three cases of forced labor. During the reporting period, labor inspectors began collaborating with the government fishing authority on inspections. Limited capacity hindered government enforcement of its ban on worker-paid recruitment fees, especially in industrial mining, the informal sector, and cases involving traditional leaders. SAPS operated a crime hotline and mobile app that could receive reports of potential trafficking cases.

During the reporting period, the country’s largest trade union federation launched a hotline to which South African and foreign national workers could report labor violations, including labor trafficking. The government directed trafficking-related calls to an NGO-operated human trafficking hotline, which received 3,261 calls and identified 47 trafficking victims during the reporting period, compared with identifying 42 the previous reporting period. In collaboration with NGOs, international organizations, a foreign donor, neighborhood watch groups, a university, and the private sector, the government conducted awareness-raising activities, including at schools, shopping centers, and transport centers. During the reporting period, the government joined a multilateral effort to protect workers’ rights and reduce vulnerabilities to trafficking.

The NPA participated in an international organization’s anti-trafficking prosecutors’ forum. The South African National Defense Forces operated a hotline for reports of sexual exploitation by armed forces but did not report if it received calls during the reporting period. The government did not report providing anti-trafficking training to its peacekeepers before deployment. The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.

The government reported providing anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel. TRAFFICKING PROFILE: Trafficking affects all communities. This section summarizes government and civil society reporting on the nature and scope of trafficking over the past five years. Human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in South Africa, and traffickers exploit victims from South Africa abroad.

Traffickers recruit victims from rural areas, especially children, and exploit them in sex trafficking in cities, especially in Gauteng and Western Cape. Official complicity in trafficking crimes, especially by police and immigration officials, facilitated trafficker operations. Some brothels, known to SAPS as sex trafficking locations, operate with officials’ tacit approval. Traffickers exploit adults and children, particularly those from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities and rural areas, in forced labor, primarily in begging, domestic service, food services, construction, agriculture, fishing, forced criminality, and agriculture, particularly on vineyards and fruit and vegetable farms.

Syndicates exploit the 50,000 South African and foreign children and adults working in illegal artisanal gold, diamond, and coal mining; miners are exposed to dangerous conditions or killed by gangs vying for control of mines. Traffickers, including brothel owners, recruit victims who are unemployed or struggle with substance use, including children, and they use substances to control them. Traffickers increasingly recruit children into online sexual exploitation. Parents sometimes exploit their children in sex trafficking or online sexual exploitation in exchange for money or goods, including drugs.

Traffickers promise marriage to women and girls, then exploit them in labor trafficking. Poor women and children, rural women, and survivors of sexual abuse are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Abuse of ukuthwala , a cultural practice sometimes involving forced marriage , contributes to women and girls’ vulnerability to exploitation, particularly in Eastern Cape and KZN. Observers reported some individuals were especially at high risk for trafficking due to social stigmatization on the basis of their sexual orientation or identity.

Traffickers, including syndicates, exploit migrants from across Africa – especially Ethiopia – in all forms of trafficking en route to and in South Africa. Traffickers recruit foreign victims using fake job advertisements on social media, then exploit them in hospitality, mining, domestic work, and webcam modeling. Recruiters entice women from neighboring countries, the Middle East, and Asia – especially Thailand – with offers of legitimate employment then subject the women to sex trafficking. Traffickers exploit Basotho women in sex trafficking and domestic servitude and men in labor trafficking, particularly in the mining and textile sectors.

Predominantly Nigerian-run syndicates force women from Nigeria and countries bordering South Africa into commercial sex, primarily in brothels, guesthouses, and other fronts. Some farmers rely on so-called bakkie brokers to hire workers, including migrants, during harvest; the brokers are unregulated and charge workers recruitment fees, increasing trafficking vulnerabilities. Traffickers exploit young men from neighboring countries in farm work, some of whom officials then arrest and deport. Traffickers exploit foreign male victims aboard fishing vessels in South Africa’s territorial waters.

Pakistani and Bangladeshi traffickers exploit their co-nationals in forced labor through debt-based coercion. Chinese businessowners exploit adults and children from China, Malawi, and South Africa in factories and other businesses; some attempt to avoid labor oversight by falsely registering their factories as member-owned cooperatives. Analysts report timber trafficking, which frequently accompanies human trafficking, drives transnational crime between Southern Africa and China and helps fund conflict in the DRC. The Cuban regime may have forced Cuban regime-affiliated professionals in South Africa to work.

South African officials indicated Cuban professionals controlled their passports and directly received their salaries; it was unclear if Cuban professionals signed contracts or controlled their bank accounts. Undocumented foreign nationals are at high risk of forced labor in textile manufacturing, agriculture, domestic service, informal shops, and forced criminality. Undocumented foreign national children are especially vulnerable to forced criminality, particularly drug trafficking. Refugees’ and asylum seekers’ lack of valid documentation limits their access to protection and services, leaving them vulnerable to trafficking.

Undocumented foreign national children – including those born in South Africa – cannot access education and government services, which increases their vulnerability to trafficking. Syndicates recruit South African women to Europe and Israel, where traffickers force some into sex trafficking, domestic service, or drug smuggling. Traffickers in Southeast Asia recruit South Africans to work in call centers then exploit them in forced labor. Media and NGOs report unscrupulous actors, including Russian officials and illicit recruiters, fraudulently recruited women ages 18-22 from Africa – including South Africa – South Asia, and South America for vocational training programs and subsequently placed them in military drone production sites.

Media report workers at these sites are subjected to hazardous conditions, surveillance, hour and wage violations, contract switching, and worker-paid recruitment fees, all of which are indicators of trafficking. On This Page search > < SOUTH AFRICA (Tier 2 Watch List) PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS: PROSECUTION PROTECTION PREVENTION TRAFFICKING PROFILE: Tags Bureau of African Affairs Human Trafficking Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Reports South Africa