Fighting for the voiceless in SA’s human-trafficking underworld

Human trafficking isn’t confined to distant borders or shadowy international networks. It’s happening in South African cities, harbours, and in communities where most people would least expect it. Children are disappearing and women are being exploited, yet the issue remains largely invisible. 

For Madeleine Hicklin, a Jewish Democratic Alliance Member of the Gauteng Legislature, this invisibility is part of the problem. “Nobody talks about anything to do with sex trafficking as we know it,” she says. “Kids disappear out of South Africa quicker than you can blink.” 

For Hicklin, fighting trafficking has become a personal mission. She got involved because a close friend, police officer Delene Grobler-Koonin, worked on cases involving child exploitation and trafficking. 

But Grobler-Koonin was killed in the line of duty in 2020 while working on an operation with the Hawks elite investigating unit. 

Hicklin describes her as “the sister I never had” and has tried to ensure her friend’s commitment in this battle was not in vain. In her honour, Hicklin is holding a fundraising morning in Johannesburg to raise awareness about human trafficking, at which a friend of Grobler-Koonin will speak. Heila Niemand, Gauteng Commander of the SA Police Service’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, will share her knowledge at the EmpowerHER Brunch on 25 April. 

“I want members of society to be more aware of the dangers of human trafficking and child sex exploitation and so this is part of my effort to continue Dalene’s legacy,” Hicklin told the SA Jewish Report. 

She says that recent figures point to a complex and evolving crisis. In 2023/24, authorities identified 234 trafficking victims, most of them women and children. Nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) report rising cases, with one hotline recording a 30% increase in 2024. The majority of victims are trafficked into the commercial sex trade, while others are forced into labour. 

Trafficking hotspots include major urban centres such as Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban, while provinces like Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape remain high-risk areas for children. 

But statistics only scratch the surface. 

Hicklin describes visiting small harbours in the Western Cape, including Hout Bay and Saldanha Bay, where she encountered a reality she says few South Africans are aware of. “We were actually threatened to get out of the area,” she recalls. “There were little boats in the harbour. On those little boats are children that are used in the sex trafficking industry.” 

According to her, these children are kept in unimaginable conditions. “There’s six inches of air between the water in the boat and them getting out of the boat,” she says. “They are kept there to be trafficked.” 

Despite the severity of the problem, funding and coordination to address it remain major obstacles. Government support for anti-trafficking efforts is limited and difficult to track, as it is absorbed into broader budgets within the Department of Social Development and policing structures. 

Hicklin says this lack of transparency has real consequences. “There is no direct money allocation to assist NGOs and non-profit organisations working in the human-trafficking space,” she says. “Without government funding, without provincial funding, they are literally unable to keep their doors open.” 

Many organisations rely heavily on private donors to survive. As economic pressures increase, this funding pool becomes more strained, placing further pressure on stretched services. 

At the same time, Hicklin argues, the crime isn’t being treated with sufficient urgency. “Gender-based violence is a buzzword that trips off people’s tongue,” she says. “We’ve had thousands of commitments, and they do nothing.” 

She points to the gap between policy and implementation as one of the most significant challenges. “It’s easier to pay lip service than to do something,” she says. “There is no will to address social ills.” 

This gap is particularly evident in the treatment of survivors. NGOs have increasingly adopted trauma-informed, survivor-centred approaches, focusing on long-term rehabilitation and reintegration. However, Hicklin believes these models aren’t adequately understood or supported by government structures. “I don’t even think they are listened to,” she says. 

One organisation working to fill this gap is Brave to Love, a South African NGO that supports survivors of sex trafficking. Its programmes include outreach to women in prostitution, coordinated rescue efforts with law enforcement, and long-term residential care that provides counselling, education, and job training. 

“They are making restoring dignity and human rights the core values of their efforts,” Hicklin says, “and those are my core values.” 

Her fundraiser is to raise money for Brave to Love. 

Hicklin personally contributed money to get the initiative off the ground. “I want to raise as much money as I humanly possibly can,” she says. 

She says that her motivation is rooted in both the loss of her friend and her Jewish identity. She speaks of tikkun olam, the Jewish principle of repairing the world, as a guiding force in her work. “I am a woman working towards the repair of our imperfect world through compassion, care, and a drive to make life better for the voiceless,” she says. 

Beyond funding and awareness, Hicklin emphasises the need for better data and coordination. Currently, there is no centralised system tracking trafficking survivors or services, making it difficult to fully understand the scale of the crisis. 

She also highlights the global dimension of trafficking, noting that victims are not only exploited locally but also trafficked across borders, into Africa and Europe. 

At the same time, the nature of trafficking is evolving, with increasing links to online exploitation and organised criminal networks. This makes prevention and enforcement more complex, requiring new strategies and greater collaboration between government, law enforcement, and civil society. 

Despite the challenges, Hicklin remains cautiously hopeful. “South Africans are resilient people,” she says. “And as Jews, we are a really resilient people.” 

She believes that community involvement will be critical in addressing the crisis, particularly through initiatives that raise awareness and strengthen support for organisations working in the field. 

In a country facing many competing crises, human trafficking remains one of the least visible yet most urgent. Addressing it will require not only policy and funding, but also a willingness to confront uncomfortable realities and act on them.