The Irish-born Nun noted that trafficking of young men for forced labor has increased drastically in South Africa, adding that her office uncovered ninety-two Malawians who had been enslaved for two years in a Chinese Factory in Johannesburg.
The trafficked Malawians, the Catholic Nuns said, “were young men, middle aged men and some of them were fairly old, mainly from Eastern and Southern parts of Malawi.”
She observed that although most traffickers have changed their routes, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) has made significant strides in the fight against human trafficking.
Thanks to South African law enforcement officials and INTERPOL, a minibus carrying young women from Malawi through Mozambique was recently intercepted overnight, Sr. O’Connor told ACI Africa during the February 7 interview.
She explained, “South African Police officers ordered the minibus to stop and the driver ignored the call. The police fired at the tires and the minibus eventually overturned killing two young ladies from St John’s Parish in northern Malawi, who were promised jobs in South Africa by traffickers.”
The CTIP Coordinator told ACI Africa that her office has and continues to organize workshops targeting Catholics in the three nations of the SACBC aimed at fostering awareness about human Trafficking.
Plans are underway for a training of three Catholic activists from Botswana, Sr. O’Connor said, adding that the capacity building initiative that is to take place in South Africa “in the coming days” aims at equipping the three beneficiaries with the necessary tools to raise awareness about the scourge of human trafficking through training programs in their respective Parishes.
Marked on February 8, the Feast Day of St. Josephine Bakhita, the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking seeks to raise awareness about the scourge of human trafficking and to urge governments and other stakeholders to work decisively to end the disgraceful vice.
In the February 7 interview with ACI Africa, Sr. O’Connor who has been at the helm of CTP since 2008 said the SACBC’s office has planned for Holy Mass on February 8 at St Augustine’s Silverton Parish of the Catholic Archdiocese of Pretoria in memory of victims of human trafficking.
Sheila Pires is a veteran radio and television Mozambican journalist based in South Africa. She studied communications at the University of South Africa. She is passionate about writing on the works of the Church through Catholic journalism.
