A South African court has sentenced seven Chinese nationals—four men and three women—to 20 years in prison each, after their February conviction on 158 counts, including human trafficking and the enslavement of more than 90 Malawian workers, among them 16 minors.
Investigations revealed that the defendants operated an illegal duvet cover factory in Johannesburg, where workers were forcibly held since 2017 and compelled to work 11-hour days under armed guard. The conditions caused severe injuries, including cases of blindness and loss of limbs.
Delivering the judgment, Judge David Mhanngo stressed that the victims had been lured to South Africa—the continent’s largest industrial power—only to be enslaved.
In this article:
