- Seven Chinese nationals are currently on trial in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.
- The seven face charges of human trafficking, kidnapping and violation of labour laws.
- They all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg heard allegations of how seven Chinese nationals, accused of human trafficking, treated employees at their Johannesburg factory.
The trial against Kevin Tsao, Dai Junying, Chen Hui, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao and Zhang Zhilian is currently underway.
According to the Department of Employment and Labour, Malawi national, Fraser Aufi, testified on Monday and told the court that he and other employees at the factory were subjected to "long working hours, insults, assaults and violation of basic human rights" by the accused.
"Aufi told the court that, initially, the Chinese refused to open the gates until the police climbed over to free them, and how the accused tried to 'bribe' the police with food," the department said.
The accused face 160 charges, including human trafficking, kidnapping and the violation of labour laws.
They pleaded not guilty to all charges on 26 April, News24 reported at the time.
They were arrested on 12 November 2019 following an operation by the Department of Employment and Labour's inspection and enforcement services branch in Gauteng, the police, the Department of Home Affairs and the Hawks, News24 previously reported.
It is alleged that they allegedly ran an illegal enterprise, called Beautiful City Pty Ltd, in Village Deep, Johannesburg.
The accused were allegedly trafficking undocumented immigrants into South Africa and subjected them to forced labour between April 2017 until 2019.
Ninety-one Malawian nationals, including children, were allegedly found in the factory.
In a 50-page indictment, which was read in court at the start of the trial, it was alleged that they "unlawfully and intentionally transferred and/or harboured the victims … by means of deception and/or by [the] threat of harm, and/or threat or use of force, and/or other forms of coercion, and/or by abusing their position of vulnerability, and/or the abuse of power, for the purpose of labour exploitation".
They are also accused of kidnapping some of their victims, News24 previously reported.
The State alleged the accused deprived some of their victims of their freedom of movement by "locking the gates and posting armed security guards at the gates, thereby preventing the employees from leaving the premises".
The accused also allegedly helped some people to remain inside South Africa, in contravention of the Immigration Act, the State claimed.