A South African court has sentenced seven Chinese nationals to 20 years in prison each for human trafficking and forced labor.

The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg handed down the sentences yesterday, following a lengthy trial that saw the four men and three women convicted on 158 of 160 counts, including human trafficking, kidnapping, and contraventions of immigration laws.

The convictions came after a November 2019 raid by the Hawks, the country’s elite investigative unit, on a factory known as Beautiful City in Village Deep, Johannesburg.

The operation led to the rescue of 91 Malawian nationals, including 37 children, who had been smuggled into South Africa in shipping containers.

Acting Judge David Mhango, in his ruling, stated that the prosecution had provided overwhelming evidence against the seven accused Kevin Tsao, Chen Hui, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying, and Zhang Zhilian.

He praised the reliability of the witnesses and the thoroughness of the police investigation.

The court heard harrowing testimony during the trial, detailing the exploitative conditions the Malawians were subjected to.

They were forced to work 11-hour shifts, seven days a week, at the factory which produced cotton fiber sheets.

Witnesses testified that they were denied safety equipment, resulting in injuries, and were paid far below South Africa’s minimum wage.
One victim told the court that they were not allowed to leave the heavily guarded premises, even to buy food.
In addition to the prison sentences, the court ordered the company, Beautiful City, to pay a fine of R300,000, equivalent to K525 million.