The jailed Chinese citizens
Source: Africa Publicity
Seven Chinese citizens have been sentenced to 20-year imprisonment in South Africa for kidnapping and smuggling Malawians to South Africa and pushing them into forced labour.
A South African court found the four men and three women guilty of human trafficking and kidnapping. The court found Kevin Tsao, Chen Hui, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying, and Zhang Zhilian, guilty on 158 of the 160 counts for which they were charged.
The charges included helping illegal immigrants remain in South Africa and violating the country’s labour laws by failing to register their operations and and keep a record of their earnings among others.
Their sentencing comes nearly six years after they were arrested.
The Chinese were arrested when South African authorities raided a factory in Johannesburg and found 91 Malawians, 37 of the children, working in poor conditions.
The factory raid took place after authorities received a tip-off from a worker who had managed to escape.
It later emerged that employees were forced to work 11-hour shifts, seven days a week, without proper training or safety equipment.
The Malawians were reportedly paid far below South Africa’s minimum wage of $1.64 (£1.22) per hour and had their pay stopped if they wanted time off.