The United States has placed South Africa on its human trafficking watch list, accusing the government in Pretoria of failing to demonstrate meaningful progress in combating forced labor, sex trafficking, and other forms of modern slavery. The move, outlined in the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report, represents the latest flashpoint in already strained relations between Washington and South Africa.

According to the report, which was published three months later than scheduled due to staff cuts in the office responsible for compiling it, Pretoria has been downgraded to the Tier 2 Watch List. This category includes countries that have failed to show overall increasing efforts to address human trafficking compared with the previous year. South Africa joins Brazil, which was also added to the watch list after what Washington described as a troubling decline in prosecutions and convictions of traffickers there.

The State Department acknowledged that South Africa had made certain strides, such as securing more convictions and creating its first sub-provincial task team focused on trafficking. Yet the report concluded that these advances were overshadowed by systemic shortcomings.

Among the cited failures were poor coordination between government agencies, long delays in the certification of victims, and inadequate emergency services for survivors. Many potential victims were left without shelter, protection, or access to essential resources. In addition, the government investigated fewer cases in 2024 compared to previous years and initiated fewer prosecutions.

A particularly damning criticism concerned Pretoria’s handling of trafficked individuals who were penalized........

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