By Bianca Silva
The 2010 Fifa World Cup could provide an ideal market for child traffickers, warn child rights organisations - especially since South Africa has no specific legislation criminalising the growing scourge.
Up to 1 700 children go missing in South Africa every year - of which about 10 percent are never found.
Experts say the only legislation criminalising human trafficking of any sort in South Africa is contained in the Children's Act of 2005, which is still not fully operational.
Joan van Niekerk, the national co-ordinator of Childline, said although the first part of this act had been passed, the regulations for it were incomplete.
The second part, the Children's Amendment Bill, which deals with the competencies of provincial government regarding children's services and the implementation of regulations, has not been passed through parliament.
Agnes Muller, social work manager in the Department of Social Development, said until both parts of the act were finalised and passed, South Africa remained dependent on the existing Child Care Act of 1983, which contained no references to trafficking.
But even if the act is passed this year, which seems unlikely, there are fears that it won't be properly implemented for the next three to four years, said Patrick Solomons, director of Masongololo, a children's rights NGO.
Muller predicted that it would be five to eight years until there were sufficient human resources, funding and enough trained social workers for the act to be properly implemented.
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development senior communications officer Mishack Magakwe said although there was nothing in the constitution that prohibited human trafficking, a paper on trafficking was being developed by the department.