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Chinese nationals appear at the Johannesburg High Court, 28 April 2021, on charges of human trafficking of illegal immigrants into South Africa and subjecting them to forced labour and violating labour laws. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
The sentencing of seven Chinese nationals convicted of kidnapping and forcing 91 Malawians to work in a Johannesburg factory has been postponed to 29 April.
The accused appeared in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Friday for what was expected to be their sentencing hearing, with one defendant now confined to a wheelchair.
The seven defendants—Kevin Tsao Shu-Uei, Chen Hui, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying, and Zhang Zhilian—faced schedule six offences, which are among South African law’s most serious crimes.
The court found the defendants guilty on 158 of 160 charges related to human trafficking, labour law violations, and immigration offences.
During the court appearance, the defence attorney, Johan Kruger, requested that the court ease bail conditions for accused number six, who is currently released on medical grounds.
“I have to bring this, and unfortunately, and I apologise, I haven’t brought this to the attention of my learned friend, Advocate [Valencia] Dube. One of her [Dai Junying’s] bail conditions is that she must report daily [to] the Cleveland police station.
“She finds it very difficult to travel with a wheelchair and the family. I don’t know if my learned friend still got an objection, if we can scrap that because I don’t want her or the investigating office to come and say that she’s not signing on daily,” Kruger stated.
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In previous court proceedings, the Department of Employment and Labour reported that Judge J Mhango noted several key facts in the case, including that the accused were in charge of managing Beautiful City operations and that the factory primarily employed Malawian nationals with numerous employees sustaining workplace injuries.
Mhango said the Malawian workers were in South Africa illegally.
He also noted that employees worked seven days a week, and workers received wages below the National Minimum Wage, violating statutory requirements.
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The Chinese nationals were convicted of multiple violations, including failure to register with the Compensation Fund, neglecting to declare their operations, not keeping proper earnings records, failing to submit earnings returns, and not paying required assessments.
Additional convictions included failure to maintain a safe workplace, not reporting incidents, neglecting to register with the Unemployment Insurance Fund commissioner, and not informing the commissioner about changes to their business operations.
The most serious charges involved human trafficking, aiding and facilitating human trafficking, bondage, benefiting from victims of human trafficking, and assisting illegal immigrants to remain in South Africa.
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The defendants were arrested on 12 November 2019 during a joint operation at their business premises, Beautiful City Pty Ltd, in Village Deep, Johannesburg.
The Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services branch conducted the raid in coordination with the South African Police Service’s Hawks Unit and the Department of Home Affairs.
“The joint operation uncovered illegal immigrants, some of whom were minors working under horror conditions and kept in the locked premises of Beautiful City,” said the department.
The factory reportedly produced cotton fibre sheets.
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The recent court proceedings experienced delays as defence attorney J. Kruger objected to television stations broadcasting the trial live.
Kruger argued that televising the proceedings would infringe on the defendant’s rights and noted that the accused had requested to contact the Chinese embassy.
Prosecutor Valencia Dube countered that the case was in the public interest, pointing out that a precedent had been set when media coverage was permitted during the bail hearing in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
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Gauteng Provincial Chief Inspector for the Department of Employment and Labour, Advocate Michael Msiza, characterised the judgment as a landmark ruling for labour laws in South Africa.
“The judgment sends a strong message to those that continue to employ illegal immigrants that illegality will not be tolerated,” the department stated.
All defendants were remanded in custody except for accused number six, Dai Junying, who remains out on bail for medical reasons.
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