Body parts for sale: could SA’s high murder rate be linked to profits?

CAPE TOWN - The reopening of the country’s borders in the early 1990s has exposed South Africa and its population to way too many things.

Some of the phenomena are known and people talk about them daily.

These include the influx of migrants, coronavirus and currency fluctuations.

On the other hand, there are many positives like readmission to international sports and freedom of movement that have come with the opened borders.

Hidden to public knowledge are crimes gruesome acts that, when narrated, one can hardly imagine that humans are capable of performing.

As the old saying goes, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

This may be interpreted to mean that the mere fact that you are not aware of something does not mean it does not exist.

The underground world of international criminal syndicates deals in body organs, and the activity takes place across countries.

Organ trafficking is a lucrative global illicit trade that is worth billions of dollars a year.

Also worth noting is that millions of unsuspecting people in most countries are exposed to “severe exploitation and a lifetime of health consequences”.

In June this year, journalist Piet Rampedi broke the story of a woman, Gosiame Thamara Sithole, who had given birth to 10 babies.

The BBC also covered the story and reported that Guinness World Records was investigating Sithole’s case.

After that, the story inexplicably fizzled following accusations that the journalist had lied.

Global company Nando’s even created an advert which dismissed the story as “fake news”.

An investigative report by Rampedi’s employer, Independent Media, confirms that the decuplets were not only born, but were trafficked.

What is even more concerning is that the report claims that human trafficking is rife in Gauteng hospitals, and this is where babies are given up for adoption or sold for muti.

This will be an interesting story. The chairman of Independent Media, Dr Iqbal Survé, announced that, unequivocally, human trafficking happens at Steve Biko, Thembisa and George Mukhari hospitals.

He said the Department of Home Affairs was involved in the potentially scandalous crime.

It will be interesting if the hospitals litigate against Independent Media and Survé. Private hospitals all over the province are denying any knowledge of any hospital that “ever delivered more than triplets”.

Pending the verification or confirmation of the allegations contained in the report, it is difficult to formulate a position on the matter.

However, it is necessary to create awareness about the existence of crimes concerning organ trafficking.

This is not only a South African occurrence, but involves many countries.

From this perspective, it would be worth following Independent Media’s story with interest, since it could expose many South Africans to new information.

It is unfortunate that other media houses have dismissed the story without penning a single story about organ trafficking crimes to educate the public.

Publications such as The Daily Maverick have opted to tackle Survé and Rampedi. Survé is described as a “media tycoon, serial grifter, physician manqué” whose story is akin to a Hollywood action movie.

Rampedi is called “a connoisseur of bulls***, a liar’s liar who lies so routinely that he probably doesn’t know he’s lying any more”.

It is amazing that some journalists are labelling the report as hogwash.

It is unclear what the devils of misinformation have in their arsenal.

Some journalists no longer care about giving voice to the voiceless as they engage in politicking and propaganda.

South Africa has some shocking stories that never ended in prosecutions. For example, a group of black women informed the Commission for Gender Equality last year that they had been “sterilised without consent at state hospitals”.

If forced sterilisations are possible, it is fair to ask how many people have lost babies, died or been trafficked by gangs to steal their body parts.

The article, nonetheless, moves from the premise that many South Africans may have never heard of organ trafficking since human trafficking is usually associated with sex and labour, not body parts.

It is the responsibility of those who possess knowledge to share it with the public.

Thus, this article seeks to give details on trafficking in body parts as real, without confirming or disputing the claims made by Independent Media and Survé.

There is ample evidence that suggests scores of people are attracted to crimes involving organ trafficking, due to a high demand for illicit body parts and relatively low rates of law enforcement.

This, therefore, places many people at risk of being trafficked or killed for their body parts.

Could the reported high rates of crime in South Africa be reasonably linked to other crimes like organ trafficking? This is a frightening thought if it were to be confirmed.

But the idea is not far-fetched. Organ trafficking crimes are connected to our daily lives in the same way child and slave labour as well as human trafficking keep global business active.

The most concerning details of the organ trafficking business is that it involves the residents of developed and developing countries.

The vulnerable people living in poorer regions of the world are “defrauded” of their body parts and become “donors” of lungs, hearts and livers to recipients in developed countries.

The global capitalist system divides people between the exploited whose rights are trampled on each day, for the benefit of the rich who seem to have a licence to exploit others and resources with impunity.

Such things as international law and morality are insensible to the plight of millions of people in developing countries whose lives are severely affected by profit-making, and an uncaring push by wealthy countries to selfishly guard their high living standards and twisted morality.

Like all cross-border crimes, the illegal organ trading activities in developing countries involve small local players who are connected to big global companies in the health and finance sectors.

Therefore, it cannot be denied that banks and health practitioners are part of an extensive network of exploitation and human rights breaches.

Knowingly or unaware, the private sector, in particular the financial industry and health groups, could be susceptible to being an unknowing conduit for its facilitation.

As with everything else, global players in the two sectors will easily contest direct and or vicarious liability when it comes to the body parts that are stolen and later sold for profit.

The challenge with trade in classical commodities, such as minerals and agricultural products, is that human rights abuses in places where they are sourced are unknown and concealed by large corporations and developed countries that have benefited from shady commercialism for many decades.

Private businesses and developed countries stubbornly refuse to address concerns about human rights violations in their value chains.

Parties, including governments, business, trade unions and NGOs, are locked in negotiations at the UN which seek to at least develop an international treaty that will assist in holding economic actors liable for harms and chaos they create during the course of doing business.

One has every reason to believe that the same arrangement exists to facilitate the illicit trade in important body organs.

For starters, the data on this unusual business is startling.

According to the Global Financial Integrity estimates, as much as 10% of all organ transplants, including lungs, heart and liver, have something to do with trafficked organs.

The World Health Organization corroborates the findings by estimating that 10 000 kidneys are traded on the black market worldwide annually.

It is possible that the envisaged international treaty that will hold businesses liable for human rights will not explicitly spell out the lifetime of health consequences from trading in organs.

However, the crime cannot be hidden anymore.

The sourcing of body organs is murky and occurring in makeshift operating rooms in houses.

But, once they are obtained, these trafficked organs can be transplanted to recipients in the most reputable of hospitals in major cities throughout the world.

The transplantation of human foetal tissues – the body parts of the decuplets – could be in laboratories overseas.

The rush to the bottom by large corporations to make money is real.

In 2018, for instance, the global health industry was estimated at $8.45 trillion.

But with the coronavirus, several reports suggest that global healthcare spending could reach more than $10 trillion by next year.

According to a study by Body Harvest in 2007, the price structure for body organs was: corneas – $30 000, lungs – $150 000, heart – $130 000, liver – $98 000 and kidneys – $62 000.

It is possible that the numbers have increased exponentially in the past 15 years?

About 12 000 organs were sold on the black market, and while most of the exchanges involved kidneys; 654 hearts and 2 615 livers were sold for up to $394 000 each.

The development of the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs in 2014 appears to have done nothing to decrease demand.

One reason that the global black market for body parts is booming is that the average waiting times for organs in developed countries ranges from two years in the UK, to four years in Canada and the US.

The rush to be first in the line to get replacement body organs drives up demand, and also crimes like illicit financial flows, human trafficking, murder and wars.

The complexity of the topic goes above the understanding of most people.

Health is a highly contested terrain, especially in the wake of the coronavirus.

Developed countries and companies are reaping billions from vaccines purportedly designed to deal with the pandemic.

And those with money, like Johann Rupert, flew to Switzerland to have the shot.

This means those with money could go on medical holidays to have stolen body parts transplanted.

In North and West Africa, according to Interpol, medical tourism appears to be related to the purpose of organ removal.

In many cases, crime groups collaborate with the medical sector and also work with local recruiters to approach a victim-donor.

They further lure victims with the promise of work opportunities abroad but traffic them for labour and sexual purposes, and their organs are removed.

It is only reasonable to take the lead from the story of the decuplets in order to track millions of victims and loved ones who are affected by those who traffic, mutilate and kill people for their body parts.

Young men and women die in huge numbers in townships, rural areas and squatter camps for no apparent reason.

The argument that the murders are encouraged by simple crimes is insufficient and shallow.

There is money that is made from black bodies that are trafficked to overseas markets to be sold to people with long life expectancies in the developed world.

Siyayibanga le economy!

Hadebe is an independent commentator on socio-economic, politics and global matters. He is based in Pretoria

a