Defence ask for postponement in the matter of seven Chinese nationals busted for alleged human trafficking and violation of labour laws

Banner of the National Department of Labour together with the South African flag

28 November 2019

The defence in the matter of seven Chinese nationals who were busted recently for operating a factory allegedly involved in the trafficking of illegal immigrants and subjecting them to forced labour today (November 28) asked for a postponement of the bail hearing in the Johannesburg Magistrates Court.

The four males and three females were arrested on November 12 in a joint operation by the Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) branch in Gauteng together with the South African Police Services (SAPS), and the Hawks Unit. The arrests followed a tip-off that the Chinese nationals were allegedly involved in the trafficking of illegal immigrants and subjecting them to forced labour.

The accused are Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying, Zhang Zhilian, Kevin Tsao (naturalised South African), and Chen Hui.

Jan Christoffel Kruger from David H Botha, Du Plessis & Kruger Incorporated told the Court that the defence was applying for a postponement to prepare a bail application now that the offence(s) faced by the accused was classified as schedule 6. Kruger said the defence had come to Court to apply for bail “on an ordinary basis”.

The seven accused appeared today before Magistrate Mr Molwana. The accused have not yet been formally charged.

Magistrate Molwana remanded the accused in custody, and will appear on December 11 for bail application – with December 12-13 reserved in case the matter is not completed.

The accused were arrested following a Department’s joint operation with SAPS and Hawks at the premises of a company called Beautiful City Pty Ltd located at Village Deep in Johannesburg. During the raid minor minor children were found to be employed at the factory, and that the employer was violating the suite of labour legislation ranging from National Minimum Wage (NMW), Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (Coida), the Unemployment Insurance Act (UI Act) and Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act (UICA).

The employers owe more R4,6 million for non-compliance with the National Minimum Wage, more than R2-million non-payment for Sunday work, R261 000 for UIF contributions, R250 000 fine for non-compliance with Occupational Health and Safety Act and any other amount that the Court may impose – where the provisions contravened Coid, UIF and Section 92 of the BCEA.

An audit by the Department during the joint inspection found that there were 91 Malawian workers employed in the factory during the raid.

Meanwhile, Magistrate Molwana made a ruling in regard media coverage of the matter. He said the application for recording has been granted in the national interest. He said this was granted not to prejudice or to the detriment of anyone.

He said the media was allowed to record proceedings subject to following Court guidelines and fair reporting.

For more information contact:

Department of Employment and Labour

Provincial Chief Inspector (Gauteng Province) Advocate Michael Msiza

082 900 8131

Issued by:

Teboho Thejane

Departmental Spokesperson

082 697 0694