The Johannesburg High Court will today, sentence seven Chinese nationals convicted on 160 charges linked to human trafficking and child labour.
The group—Kevin Tsao Shu-Uei, Chen Hui, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying, and Zhang Zhilian—was found guilty in February 2025 of offences including aiding trafficking, bondage, and benefitting from exploitation.
Their convictions followed a November 2024 raid at Beautiful City (PTY) LTD, a factory in Village Deep, Johannesburg. Police rescued 37 Mozambican nationals, among them minors under 17, who had been smuggled into South Africa in shipping containers and forced to work in degrading conditions.
Authorities said the factory operated as a legal business on the surface but was secretly a hub for forced labour. An anonymous tip-off led police to the premises, where workers were found cramped into small rooms, underfed, and forced to work long hours without pay.
The case was investigated by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s (DPCI) Trafficking in Persons Unit, which built the case against the accused.
DPCI spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the case highlights South Africa’s commitment to combating trafficking. “The meticulous work of our Trafficking in Persons Unit and the Serious Organised Crime Investigation team has ensured that the perpetrators were held accountable. The sentencing will send a strong message that South Africa will not tolerate human trafficking or the exploitation of vulnerable people,” Mogale said.
Human trafficking remains a serious challenge in South Africa. According to the Department of Justice, authorities rescued 234 victims of trafficking in 2024/25 alone, with many cases linked to forced labour, sexual exploitation, and cross-border smuggling. Experts caution, however, that the true number is far higher due to underreporting.
Globally, the United Nations reports that 38% of trafficking victims are children, while nearly one-third of all cross-border cases involve African victims. The Global Slavery Index estimates that about 6 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are trapped in modern slavery—12% of the world’s total.
Recent cases illustrate the scale of the crisis: In January 2025, South African police discovered 26 Ethiopian nationals being held naked in a Johannesburg house by suspected traffickers. In April 2025, an Interpol-backed raid in Ivory Coast freed 33 West African victims lured by fraudulent overseas job offers.
These operations echo the Village Deep case, where vulnerable migrants were deceived or smuggled into South Africa only to be trapped in forced labour.
As the seven await sentencing, rights advocates say the case underscores the urgency of stronger anti-trafficking enforcement and better protection for migrants.
For the 37 rescued Mozambicans, some of whom were children, the judgment represents a measure of justice in a country where traffickers too often act with impunity.
Human Trafficking in Numbers
- 234 — Victims of human trafficking rescued in South Africa in 2024/25. (Department of Justice)
- 6 million — Estimated number of people in sub-Saharan Africa trapped in modern slavery, about 12% of the global total. (Global Slavery Index)
- 38% — Share of global trafficking victims who are children. (UNODC, 2024)
- 31% — Proportion of cross-border trafficking victims worldwide who are African.
- 26 — Ethiopians rescued by Johannesburg police in January 2025, found held naked in a house by traffickers.
- 33 — West African victims freed in April 2025 during an Interpol-backed raid in Ivory Coast, after being lured with fake job offers.
