Police recorded 17 trafficking-linked kidnappings in three months, nine of them in Gauteng

The South African Police Service recorded 17 kidnapping cases in which human trafficking was identified as a circumstance between January and March 2026, with nine of those cases in Gauteng.

The figures, released as part of the SAPS quarterly crime statistics, mark a sharp drop from the 67 such cases recorded nationally between October and December 2025, when 62 were in Gauteng. The comparison is complicated by the fact that the two quarters cover different periods and the earlier spike may have reflected a specific police operation or reporting drive.

As IOL reported on 9 October 2026, the latest numbers coincide with Human Trafficking Awareness Week, which focuses on how people are groomed, deceived and exploited.

Talitha Oosthuizen, Mrs South Africa’s 1st Princess and an ambassador for Human Trafficking Awareness and Education, said the public needs to understand that trafficking does not always involve a kidnapping.

“We need to understand that human trafficking does not always look like a kidnapping. People can be groomed, manipulated, deceived or coerced into situations where they are exploited. That is why education is so important,” she said.

Oosthuizen, who works with the organisation Shattering Shackles, said awareness must start before someone becomes a victim, particularly among parents, teachers, women and young people.

“Awareness has to happen before someone becomes a victim. We need parents, teachers, women and young people to know what grooming can look like, to question suspicious offers and to know where to seek help when something does not feel right,” she said.

Susan Saila, an investigator at Shattering Shackles, said the common assumption that a trafficking victim must have been kidnapped or taken across a border is incorrect. Trafficking is exploitation-based, not transportation-based, she said, which means it can happen entirely within South Africa, even within a local community.

Saila said grooming can begin online, with traffickers creating false identities and gradually building trust before encouraging victims to meet them in person. She warned that parents need to pay attention to online relationships that quickly become intensely personal or intimate, particularly when the person has not been verified.

The police figures and the awareness campaign come against a backdrop of several recent cases that have shocked communities.

In KwaZulu-Natal, a seven-year-old boy was allegedly kidnapped in eThekwini in September while walking home from an aftercare facility and sexually assaulted after being taken to a nearby house.

In the Western Cape, a 25-year-old e-hailing driver was rescued in September after allegedly being lured to meet a woman, kidnapped, raped and held for ransom. Five suspects were arrested.

In Gauteng, a four-month-old baby was kidnapped and later found dead on 7 October after the baby’s mother was allegedly lured to the Hennops River in Atteridgeville under the pretext of a ritual. The mother was allegedly raped. A pastor’s wife has been arrested, while the pastor remains at large.

In Tembisa, a 27-year-old woman was rescued after allegedly being targeted by four men near a dam. Police said the suspects fled after officers responded to her screams and later opened fire on the police.

The SAPS figures record only cases where trafficking was identified as a circumstance, meaning the true scale of the crime is likely higher. Many victims are never reported missing, and exploitation can continue for years without being detected.

Gauteng’s high share of the cases, 62 of 67 in the previous quarter and nine of 17 in the latest, reflects both the province’s population density and its role as an economic hub that draws people from across the country and the continent.

Human trafficking is prosecuted under the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act of 2013, which carries penalties of up to life imprisonment for certain offences. The Act also provides for protection and assistance to victims.

Shattering Shackles works with survivors and runs awareness programmes in schools and communities. The organisation says early intervention is critical.

The Enquirer will continue to follow the SAPS quarterly crime statistics and report on the institutional response to trafficking, including prosecution outcomes and victim support.

Source: IOL, Human trafficking: 17 kidnapping cases raise alarm during awareness week