Chairperson, one of the consequences of globalisation is the increasing ease with which organised crime can be committed, with the concomitant increase in the difficulty of detecting and prosecuting the perpetrators. This applies particularly in the case of human trafficking, which has been described as one of the most lucrative and fastest-growing businesses today and is considered to be the third-largest source of profits for organised crime, after drugs and guns.
One of the reasons for the increase is that it is very low risk, as many countries have no legislation to govern it and insufficient co-ordinated efforts between countries occurs. Such efforts are essential, given that human trafficking invariably involves more than one country.
The Bill we are passing today has certainly been a long time coming - far too long to our liking and to that of the United Nations, which had placed South Africa on its Tier 2 Watch List for years.
South Africa signed the Palermo Protocol in December 2000, but it was ratified only in February 2004, some three years and two months later. Another eight years later, we are standing here with a completed Bill. It is most unfortunate that the process has taken this long, but we are certainly very pleased that we now have a Bill for approval by this House today.
Deliberations on this Bill have been long and arduous, and we are satisfied that we have carefully considered all aspects surrounding this very difficult issue. We have deliberated long and hard as to how we balance the needs of genuine victims of trafficking with those of the state when it comes to the potential abuse of resources by unscrupulous people who may try to take advantage of the benefits and who are, in fact, not genuine victims.
One concern that arose during the course of the passage of this Bill is the lack of hard statistics regarding the true extent of this problem. At the time of the 2010 World Cup, there were deep concerns raised by nongovernmental organisations, both locally and internationally, with some citing that over 100 000 people would be trafficked in and to South Africa at the time. This, by all accounts, did not happen.
It is a real concern when there are no adequate statistics available from organisations who claim to be working to combat trafficking, yet these same organisations make ongoing claims about how huge the problem is. The government departments were not much better in this respect. The National Prosecuting Authority did give us some statistics, which they started collecting in 2010. According to these, 32 cases have been investigated or are under investigation over this period, with five having been finalised. This is certainly far less than we would have expected.
Although there are numerous laws in place to deal with trafficking, which have been used in prosecutions to date, this Bill creates the offence of trafficking in persons for the first time. The Bill deals comprehensively with all aspects of identifying and protecting victims of trafficking and prosecuting the perpetrators. One of the crucial issues tackled by this Bill is how to facilitate trafficked victims testifying for the state in criminal proceedings. To this end, we have provided that the Director- General of Home Affairs may, despite the provisions of the Immigration Act, issue a visitor's visa to a victim of trafficking who has been identified as such and who has agreed in writing to co-operate with the law enforcement or prosecuting authorities in the investigation or prosecution of a case of trafficking and who is, according to the National Police Commissioner or National Director of Public Prosecutions, required for the purposes of an investigation or prosecution. In so doing, we hope to prevent victims from returning to their countries of origin, and then failing to return to South Africa to give evidence in the trial, thus allowing the perpetrators to go free.
Clause 29 of the Bill allows for the payment of compensation to victims of trafficking upon the conviction of an accused for the offence of trafficking. This can be made an order by the criminal court and can be executed in the same way as a civil judgment. This does not preclude the institution of a civil action if the actual amount of damages suffered by the victim is greater than the jurisdiction of the criminal court hearing the matter. This is a significant advantage for trafficked victims.
Another vital provision is that of making it a criminal offence to lease premises if the lessor knows or ought reasonably to know that the premises are being used for the facilitation or promotion of trafficking.
Another crucial provision is the one that compels an electronic communications service provider to report any electronic communications that advertise or broadcast information facilitating or promoting trafficking. If these service providers become aware of their service being used for these purposes, they are obliged to take immediate steps to preserve the evidence and prevent continued access to this material. They are exonerated from liability to their customers if they do this in good faith. We have also ensured that no electronic service provider is obliged to monitor the data or actively seek facts that indicate unlawful activity, thus preserving the right to privacy.
Last, but not least, we have, in fact, included penalty provisions that the Court of Appeal will be happy to hear. These penalty provisions are a very good indication of the seriousness with which we regard this crime, with fines of up to R100 million or life imprisonment.
We are satisfied that in passing this Bill, South Africa will show that we are serious about human trafficking. We trust that with the co-operation of all the agencies involved, we will ensure that our country becomes one of those least attractive to perpetrators of this heinous crime against the most vulnerable in society. The DA will support this Bill. [Applause.]