The feast of St Bakhita was celebrated at St Sophia chapel, Khanya House, seat of the South African Catholic Bishop Conference (SACBC), Pretoria, on 8 February 2021. Josephine Margaret Bakhita (born in 1869, in Darfur and died in 1947, in Schio, Italy) was a Sudanese who, as a girl, suffered the scourge of the human slave trade. Afterwards, she became a religious in the congregation of the Canossian Sisters, dedicating her life to prayer and forgiveness towards her perpetrators. She was canonized by Pope St John Paul II on 1 October 2000 and proclaimed patron saint of Sudan and of the victims of human trafficking.

The celebration of the Mass in memory of St Bakhita and the victims of human trafficking, physically attended mainly by the staff of Khanya House and broadcasted online, was presided by his Grace Archbishop of Johannesburg, Buti Tlhagale. In his homily, he addressed the congregants — confronting the culture of patriarchy and silence as one of the main root causes of abuse and violence against women and children in society. After the homily, a moment of prayer with candlelight followed, in memory of the victims of human trafficking.

Human trafficking is one of the most lucrative illicit business in the world, after the arms and drug trade, affecting more that 40 million people last year. This shameful scandal against human dignity, modern day slavery includes criminal actions of the buying and selling of people for the purpose of the sex trade, prostitution, organ trafficking, and child labour exploitation, among others. Youth and children, particularly women and girls, are the most vulnerable groups in human trafficking. In South Africa, in recent years, it has annually affected more than 248 000 people who lived in conditions of modern slavery, according to the Global Slavery Index. https://nationalfreedomnetwork.co.za/2018 /04/11/the-epidemic-human-trafficking/

The SACBC established a department, the Counter Trafficking in Persons Office, led by Sr Melanie O’Connor, against human trafficking. It dedicates its efforts to protection against human trafficking by creating awareness of this reality through workshops, talks, demonstrations, and building the capacity of concerned people to fight this terrible evil. There is also a toll-free phone number (0800 222 777) where anonymous calls can be made to alert possible cases of human trafficking.