MBOMBELA – Officials of  Home Affairs investigated the Jin Lu Chinese Beauty and Massage Salon in Sonpark today. Members of SAPS went along for security reasons according to SAPS spokesperson Dawie Pretorius.

They are investigating whether the employees are in the country legally and if they have valid work permits.

The owner, Mr Jianguang Guan, was recently caught on a hidden camera telling Al Jazeera that he had bribed officials to keep illegal immigrants in the country.

Earlier today the officials were seen speaking to some of the employees, as well as an elderly Chinese man who seemed to be negotiating about the six women employed at the salon as nail therapists and masseuses.

It is believed that these employees are in the country legally, but that they may have to return to China to obtain amended work permits as their current permits state that they are employed in the country as “wood carvers”.

A new lease was recently signed by someone believed to be Guan’s wife. He has gone underground since the broadcast of the documentary The Poachers’ Pipeline.

The Hawks (Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) have been probing Guan for a while as a person of interest.

In the documentary he claims to know state security minister, Mr David Mahlabo intimately.

Mahlabo has instructed police commissioner, Lt Gen Bethuel Zuma, to investigate Guan’s claims against him.

Russel Vaughn, boyfriend of the salon’s receptionist Ms Chelsea Wei, was present during the raid. Wei became famous for the familiar way she was posing with David Mahlobo on photographs. She was also present in the salon at the time of the investigation.

He said he was there for moral support.

“It is tragic that these girls now have to pay for trouble that someone else caused,” he said.