Philip Frankel

Professor Philip Frankel is a South African authority on human trafficking and a political scientist with a career spanning academic leadership, policy consulting, and advocacy. Frankel earned a Master of Arts from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, followed by a second Master of Arts and a Doctorate in Philosophy from Princeton University. He serves as a professor in the Department of Social Sciences at St. Augustine's College of South Africa in Victory Park, Johannesburg.

Frankel previously led the Department of Political Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand and established the Agency for Social Reconstruction, which focused on governance, institutional transformation, and public policy. The agency developed a client base among South African governmental departments, including the Office of the Presidency. Frankel has also worked as a lead consultant to the Anglo-American mining group and major transnational mining companies such as Rio Tinto and Vale across Latin America. Internationally, he has collaborated with organizations within the United Nations network, USAID, AUSAID, and several global NGOs. He is the author of 14 books published by academic publishers including Yale and Cambridge University Press.

Frankel has addressed trafficking issues for more than a decade and authored the book "Long Walk to Nowhere: Human Trafficking in Post-Mandela South Africa," recognized as the first major work on human trafficking in South Africa. The book examines human rights, political culture, public health, the criminal justice system, and institutional development, using migration and human trafficking as indicators of democratic progress. His subsequent book, "Human Trafficking in South Africa," published by the Human Sciences Research Council, provides a comprehensive update on the subject.

The volume explores various forms of trafficking, including sex, labor, and child trafficking, as well as child organ trafficking for muti murder, illegal adoption, and the exploitation of children by foster parents. Frankel analyzes key drivers such as poverty, unemployment, and social inequalities, and addresses cultural practices including fostering arrangements, illegal adoptions, muti rituals, and ukuthwala, highlighting the tension between modernity and tradition. He examines the role of international criminal networks in trafficking and offers policy recommendations such as enhanced law enforcement, increased international police cooperation, and the mobilization of grassroots civil society organizations.

Frankel has been a critic of South Africa's national policy framework for combating trafficking, citing issues such as inadequate funding, poor coordination, and selective participation by government departments and the South African Police Service. His expertise has been featured on media platforms including eNCA, where he discussed the scale of the trafficking crisis. Frankel's work has been reviewed in international publications including Foreign Affairs and the Journal of Human Trafficking, establishing him as a leading scholarly voice on trafficking in persons in southern Africa.