Authorities convicted seven Chinese nationals in late February in South Africa on nearly 160 charges related to human trafficking, kidnapping, debt bondage, labor law violations and breaches of occupational health and safety regulations. Sentencing is scheduled for late April.
Officers arrested them in 2019 at the Beautiful City blanket factory in Johannesburg, where authorities said they employed 91 undocumented Malawians between 2017 and 2019, South African online newspaper TimesLIVE reported. Acting on a tip, the Hawks’ Serious Organized Crime unit, a branch of the South African Police Service; Tactical Response Team members and Department of Labor officials broke into the factory and found the victims, including 33 between 15 and 17.
“The workers didn’t look up when we entered,” Maj. Thabo Mokoena, who led the raid, testified at trial, The African Mirror reported. “They had been conditioned to keep working regardless of what was happening around them. It was only when we started speaking in their language that they realized something was different.”
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the workers were confined under inhumane conditions and monitored by armed guards.
“The victims were forced to work 11-hour shifts, seven days a week, without proper training or safety equipment,” Mjonondwane said in the TimesLIVE report.
One worker reportedly lost a finger and was denied medical treatment. At trial, witnesses, mostly Malawian nationals and one South African truck driver, testified about being deceived into working at the factory with promises of a better life. Victims said communication was banned and they were made to operate defective machines without protective gear. The workers said they were routinely threatened by the armed guards. They were not allowed to use the restroom while on duty and were docked pay if they did.
According to The African Mirror, the workers earned R65 ($3.55) per day, or R6.50 (35 cents) an hour, far below South Africa’s minimum wage. Many of them said they previously worked at Chinese-owned factories and were recruited under false pretenses.
William, one of the Malawian workers, said he travelled from his home village after being promised decent work and education. He instead found himself sleeping on a thin mattress in a crowded room after grueling work shifts.
“They took our passports,” William said, The African Mirror reported. “They said we owed them for bringing us here, for feeding us. But the debt never decreased, no matter how much we worked.”
Teresa Mwanza, a survivor who testified at trial, sat quietly as the verdicts were read. Both she and William have joined a survivor advocacy group and share their experiences to help authorities identify and rescue others in similar situations.
“I speak because others cannot,” Teresa said. “There are more factories, more hidden places where people like me are still trapped.”
After authorities freed them, many of the victims were provided with temporary legal status, psychological support and skills training through coordination between government departments and nongovernmental organizations.
“What makes this case significant is that it exposes the connection between illegal immigration and labor exploitation,” Nomsa Ndlovu, a human trafficking researcher at the University of Johannesburg, told The African Mirror. “Victims are vulnerable on two fronts — afraid of their captors and afraid of authorities due to their immigration status.”
Maj. Gen. Ebrahim Kadwa, provincial head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in Gauteng, said the trial was an important step in the fight against human trafficking.
“This judgment sends a message to traffickers operating within our borders,” he said, according to The African Mirror. “South Africa will not tolerate these crimes.”
Still, analysts say South Africa has emerged as a source, transit point and destination for human trafficking victims. In January, South African Police rescued 26 Ethiopians who escaped from a suspected human trafficking ring in Johannesburg, where they were held naked in a bungalow. Three people were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking and possession of an illegal firearm.
“The signs that we have is this is a human trafficking matter, because they were actually escaping from that house and they were kept naked, almost as if it’s a modus operandi to keep them humiliated and not trying to escape,” Philani Nkwalase, a police spokesperson, told The Guardian.
In August, authorities found 82 Ethiopians crammed into another Johannesburg house, without enough food or proper toilet and bathroom facilities. Nkwalase said it was not clear if the cases were related.