Chaos erupted in court following the delivery of judgment.
Seven Chinese nationals have been handed lengthy prison sentences for running a human trafficking and child labour operation.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg delivered judgment against Kevin Tsao Shu-Uei, Chen Hui, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying and Zhang Zhilian.
This followed their conviction on 160 charges including human trafficking, kidnapping, contraventions of immigration laws and the exploitation of workers in February.
The sentencing proceedings faced delays, having been postponed at least twice in March and again in April.
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The case dates back to November 2019 when police and labour officials raided a factory called Beautiful City in Village Deep, Johannesburg.
Inside, 91 Malawian nationals were discovered working under exploitative conditions at the illegal enterprise, which produced cotton fibre sheets. Among them were 37 children.
Six of the accused remained behind bars during the long-running trial, while Junying was released due to medical reasons.
At one stage, Junying attended proceedings in a wheelchair.
Chinese nationals sentenced for human trafficking
Last week, probation officers submitted their pre-sentencing report outlining the accused’s backgrounds – including upbringing, health, education and social factors – and proposed sentencing options.
While alternatives such as correctional supervision, suspended sentences and fines were noted, the probation officers argued these were unsuitable given the seriousness of the offences and recommended direct imprisonment as the appropriate punishment.
On Wednesday, Judge David Mhango proceeded with sentencing, handing down prison terms to all seven.
All accused were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment each and the company was ordered to pay a fine of R300 000.
Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Jomo Sibiya attended the court proceedings which had been postponed last week after one of the accused was rushed to hospital.
‘Everybody here is lying’
Chaos erupted in court following the delivery of judgment, as Junying’s daughter, Nancy Xiao, vocally maintained the accused’s innocence.
She alleged that a firearms-linked syndicate were behind the crimes.
“They’re afraid they’re going to be killed by this boss so they kept silent all this time,” Xiao said, adding that the syndicate operates in the Chinese community in Bruma, Johannesburg.
“There’s not only one boss, there are many. There are four bosses and at least two of them are right in this country.”
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She further claimed that they did not fully understand the charges brought against them because “nobody tells us what’s going on”.
“This case is totally a mess. There is no right communication with the accused, the lawyer and the boss. He never shows up because he’s free.”
Nancy also accused the previous lawyer, J Kruger, of having knowledge of the syndicate.
“They can’t understand English and the previous lawyer, Kruger, he knows everything I tell you.”
Xiao contended that the accused cannot afford private legal representation.
“Everybody here is lying, including that previous lawyer. He even met that boss because he paid him.
“How can they have the money to pay the lawyer. The lawyer is not cheap right? They are expensive. How can they get money? They didn’t have work all these years.”
‘How can they put her in prison?’
Xiao also spoke about her mother’s ill health, warning that imprisonment could be fatal.
“They are going to kill my mother. If they bring my mother into prison, she’s going to die. She might get a second grade stroke because her blood pressure is very high,” Xiao said.
“She is seriously sick. How can they put her in prison?”
The daughter explained that there was no medical report for her mother because of financial constraints.
“We are very poor. We are not rich so when she got sick, we can’t afford to go to the hospital.
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“I called a friend of mine who is a Chinese doctor and he assessed my mother, she already got a stroke. Her condition is worse and she can’t walk now.
“So we just don’t have the time to get the medical report from the hospital and this is the reason they put her in the prison? This is ridiculous.”
She added that her mother had only been employed at the company for three months doing accounting.
“She never interacted with those workers. She only be in the office and do some paperwork. My mother never gave salaries to them.”
Human trafficking rejected
Xiao also rejected the human trafficking charges, describing them as “nonsense”.
“There is never human trafficking. This is just a factory.
“Yes, they treated those workers, those Malawians, very bad because this boss it’s all his idea.
“He doesn’t allow them to get out of this factory. He is just sending them orders,” she said.
“You see the Malawian workers are everywhere in this country.
“You can go to the China shopping centre, out of the gate, right in the gate, there are many, many Malawian workers there waiting for work.
“There’s no need for trafficking. This is nonsense. You know the problem here is that the factory is not legal and they treat those workers bad. This is true, but human trafficking? Never!” she said.
Conviction
The court had established that Malawian workers at the factory suffered injuries while on duty.
It also found that the workers were in South Africa illegally.
They were forced to work every day of the week from Monday to Sunday and were paid less than the national minimum wage.
As a result, the Chinese nationals were convicted of several offences including not registering with the Compensation Fund and failing to declare their operations.
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The accused did not keep proper payment records, nor did they submit returns or pay assessments.
They also failed to maintain a safe workplace or report incidents.
The Chinese citizens were found to have neglected to register with the Unemployment Insurance Fund or report changes regarding unemployment insurance.
In addition, they were found guilty of human trafficking, aiding and facilitating trafficking, keeping victims in bondage and profiting from their exploitation.
They were also convicted of assisting undocumented migrants to remain in South Africa.
