The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the tabling of the long overdue and much anticipated Human Trafficking Bill. The DA has long advocated for this Bill to be tabled. Following today's portfolio committee on justice and constitutional development, I insisted that the Bill not be delayed any further and that adverts for public participation be publicised as soon as possible. The chairperson of the committee instructed the advertisements to be placed this week end.

The portfolio committee on justice and constitutional development has today, undertaken to follow all due processes as swiftly as possible. Public participation will be advertised and commenced as of this week end, and will be ongoing for the regulatory 30 days. This means that the committee will start working on the nuts and bolts of the Bill by mid to end April. Obviously, various stake holders from other committees will be drawn into this process, as the Bill has wide reaching implications.

On first inspection, the Bill covers all aspects relating to Human Trafficking that the DA had been concerned about, including penalties and repatriation arrangements. It is however, hugely disappointing that Minister Jeff Radebe does not consider this Bill to be part of his priority legislation, which is most likely why the tabling of this Bill has been delayed for as long as it has.

Although there are several Acts and common law currently in place which deal with certain aspects of human trafficking, there are various inadequacies which can only be addressed by this new Bill.

The DA is concerned that this Bill will not be ready and implemented in time for the World Cup, during which there is a large risk that many women and children could fall victim to human trafficking. However, it is also important that this Bill be considered, taking into account the best interests of South Africans, and should not be rushed for FIFA's sake. It must be legislation that is test worthy over time and truly prevents the scourge of trafficking in persons.