The South African government has warned young women about suspicious job offers in Russia that have been actively advertised on social media. The government admits it cannot cope with youth unemployment, but urges them not to risk their safety out of desperation.
This is stated in a statement by the South African Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
Bloomberg recently noticed that Russian companies are expanding their campaign to recruit young African women to reduce labor shortages.
Advertisements that have appeared on TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms are seeking women aged 18 to 22 for jobs in construction and hospitality. Local influencers have also started promoting the offers. One of them is blogger Sayan Buji, who has been promoting a two-year “starter program” for young women looking to gain professional skills.
Budzhi has 1.7 million followers on TikTok. In the video, filmed in Tatarstan, she talked about a “fresh new beginning,” assuring that the girls would be treated fairly, that those hired would be given jobs and that they would be taught to speak Russian. However, it was not clear from her video what professions the young women would be working in, the BBC reports.
The media has named the Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan, where military drones are manufactured, as one of the main recruiters. It was previously reported that women from Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, etc. are being recruited there.
The South African government said it was actively investigating reports of foreign programs recruiting South Africans under false pretenses. While there was no evidence that Bouji had done anything illegal, the video ad has since disappeared from her page.
Meanwhile, government officials have urged young South African women to be vigilant about job offers and to check employers with relevant authorities before accepting them.
“If something seems too good to be true, get a second opinion. Contact the Department of International Relations and Cooperation or any of our embassies. Criminal human trafficking syndicates lure people into a variety of illegal activities under slave-like conditions,” said Clayson Monyela, head of public diplomacy at the South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He said that the Foreign Ministry helped return one South African woman to the country after she contacted the embassy in Moscow, “realizing that what was promised was not true.”
The Russian Embassy rejected the accusations of human trafficking and exploitation of people at the Alabuz factory: “The Embassy has no information, other than that disseminated through some biased publications, about foreign citizens who are subjected to forced labor, fraudulently forced to perform certain actions, or otherwise have their rights violated while participating in the program.”
The South African government has acknowledged that the country faces unacceptably high levels of youth unemployment, especially among young women, but has urged people not to succumb to tempting but unverified job offers.
“The safety, dignity and future of young South African women are of paramount importance, and we cannot allow the despair generated by high unemployment to be weaponized against our youth,” it said.
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