Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2013 (Act No. 7 of 2013) Chapter 1 : Definitions, Interpretation and Objects of Act 1. Definitions

 

In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise—

 

"abuse of vulnerability"

for purposes of section 4(1), means any abuse that leads a person to believe that he or she has no reasonable alternative but to submit to exploitation, and includes but is not limited to, taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of that person resulting from—

 

"accredited organisation"

means an organisation, including a government institution, accredited in terms of section 24 to provide services to adult victims of trafficking;

 

"body part"

for purposes of this Act, means any blood product, embryo, gamete, gonad, oocyte, zygote, organ or tissue as defined in the National Health Act, 2003 (Act No. 61 of 2003);

 

"carrier"

includes a person who is the owner or employee of the owner, an agent, an operator, a lessor, a driver, a charterer or a master, of any means of transport;

 

"child"

means a person under the age of 18 years;

 

"Children’s Act"

means the Children’s Act, 2005 (Act No. 38 of 2005);

 

"children’s court"

means a children’s court referred to in section 42 of the Children’s Act;

 

"court"

means a High Court or a magistrate’s court for any district or for any regional division;

 

"Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act"

means the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 (Act No. 32 of 2007);

 

"Criminal Procedure Act"

means the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977);

 

"debt bondage"

means the involuntary status or condition that arises from a pledge by a person of—

as security for a debt owed, or claimed to be owed, including any debt incurred or claimed to be incurred after the pledge is given, by that person if the—

 

"designated child protection organisation"

has the meaning ascribed to it in section 1 of the Children’s Act;

 

"electronic communications"

means the emission, transmission or reception of information, including without limitation, voice, sound, data, text, video, animation, visual images, moving images and pictures, signals or a combination thereof by means of magnetism, radio or other electromagnetic waves, optical, electromagnetic systems or any agency of a like nature, whether with or without the aid of tangible conduct;

 

"electronic communications identity number"

means a technical identification label which represents the origin or destination of electronic communications traffic, as a rule clearly identified by a logical or virtual identity number or address assigned to a customer of an electronic communications service provider (such as a telephone number, cellular phone number, e-mail address with or without a corresponding address, web address with or without a corresponding IP address or other subscriber number);

 

"electronic communications service provider"

means a person who is licensed or exempted from being licensed in terms of Chapter 3 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2005 (Act No. 36 of 2005), to provide an electronic communications service;

 

"exploitation"

includes, but is not limited to—

 

"forced labour"

means labour or services of a person obtained or maintained—

 

"forced marriage"

means a marriage concluded without the consent of each of the parties to the marriage;

 

"foreigner"

means a person who is not a citizen or permanent resident of the Republic;

 

"guardian"

has the meaning ascribed to it in section 1 of the Children’s Act;

 

"illegal foreign child"

means a child who is present in the Republic in contravention of the Immigration Act;

 

"immediate family member"

means the spouse, civil partner or life partner and dependant family members of a victim of trafficking;

 

"Immigration Act"

means the Immigration Act, 2002 (Act No. 13 of 2002);

 

"letter of recognition"

means a formal written recognition that an adult person is a victim of trafficking issued in terms of section 19(10);

 

"MEC"

means the member of the Executive Council of a province to whom the powers and functions relating to social development in that province have been assigned by the Premier of that province;

 

"Minister"

means the Cabinet member responsible for the administration of justice;

 

"National Director of Public Prosecutions"

means the person referred to in section 179(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, and appointed in terms of section 10 of the National Prosecuting Authority Act, 1998 (Act No. 32 of 1998);

 

"parent"

has the meaning ascribed to it in section 1 of the Children’s Act;

 

"parental responsibilities and rights"

in relation to a child, means the responsibilities and rights referred to in section 18 of the Children’s Act;

 

"person"

for purposes of this Act, includes a natural person, a juristic person and a partnership, unless the context indicates otherwise;

 

"police official"

means a member of the South African Police Service as defined in the South African Police Service Act, 1995 (Act No. 68 of 1995);

 

"prescribe"

means prescribe by regulation in terms of section 43 of this Act;

 

"protective custody"

for purposes of section 19, means the detention or confinement of a person by the South African Police Service for the purpose of protecting that person in any place which is used for the reception, detention or confinement of a person who is in custody of the South African Police Service and includes all land, buildings and premises adjacent to that place and used in connection therewith;

 

"provincial department of social development"

means the department within a provincial administration responsible for social development in the province;

 

"provincial head"

has the meaning ascribed to it in section 1 of the Public Service Act, 1994 (Proclamation No. 103 of 1994);

 

"removal of body parts"

means the removal of or trade in any body part in contravention of any law;

 

"servitude"

means a condition in which the labour or services of a person are provided or obtained through threats of harm to that person or another person, or through any scheme, plan or pattern intended to cause the person to believe that, if the person does not perform the labour or services in question, that person or another person would suffer harm;

 

"sexual exploitation"

means the commission of—

 

"slavery"

means reducing a person by any means to a state of submitting to the control of another person as if that other person were the owner of that person;

 

"social worker"

means a person registered as a social worker in terms of section 17 of the Social Service Professions Act, 1978 (Act No. 110 of 1978);

 

"temporary safe care"

for purposes of section 19, means care of an adult person suspected of being a victim of trafficking in a shelter, private home or any other place approved by the Director-General: Social Development where that person can be accommodated safely pending the placement of that person in an accredited organisation;

 

"trafficking in persons"

has the meaning assigned to it in section 4(1);

 

"UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons"

means the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, 2000; and

 

"victim of trafficking"

means—