“As Christians, we must resist with every strength we have this dangerous and degrading form of modern slavery,” Tlhagale told a May 8 rally of about one thousand people, who had gathered in Pretoria to pray for an end to human trafficking.
The South African bishops’ head added, “Men and women without integrity see an opportunity to make a fortune by selling children and women for the sexual pleasures of men, who probably care less about the games themselves.”
The archbishop called on the South African government to stamp out human trafficking. He believed that ignoring such acts, “strongly suggests complicity.”
“The government says, ‘People First’ but this is not what it means in practice,” Tlhagale said in a May 11 statement released after his address in Pretoria.
“There will be no special protection for those who will be trafficked into slavery for the sexual pleasures of corrupt and depraved men. It is sheer hypocrisy to claim to protect all people and yet only a few enjoy exceptional protection,” the prelate added.
“The nobility of a society will be judged by how it protects its vulnerable children and women, instead of displaying its security machinery for the world to see by protecting the elite,” said Tlhagale.
The archbishop told the prayer rally, “Human trafficking is intrinsically evil. What kind of civilization permits the destruction of life in the womb, [and] imports millions of condoms from civilized Britain for the World Cup event?”
Anti-trafficking organizations have estimated that around 40,000 prostitutes will be brought into South Africa during the World Cup.
