Monyela cautioned against accepting unverified foreign job offers in a post on X. – Pixabay
The ministry for women in South Africa’s presidency cautioned citizens against accepting offers of jobs in Russia being promoted on social media.
The warning was issued three days after Bloomberg News reported that firms from Russia, including one that’s been accused of tricking young women into working in a military drone assembly plant, were targeting South Africa to recruit labour.
"The so-called work opportunities advertised on social media for positions in Russia are not facilitated with any government intervention,” the Ministry in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities said in a statement on Monday. "We urge our young people to be vigilant.
Alabuga Start, a recruitment arm of Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone, has been expanding a push it began in 2023 to hire women between the ages of 18 and 22 from Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia to solve a labour shortage at home. Three research reports from groups including the Institute for Science and International Security have alleged that the young women end up working in a drone factory regularly bombed by Ukraine.
The ministry said it will "engage stakeholders” including the Russian Embassy in South Africa and local groups recruiting on behalf of Alabuga about the program.
"The Embassy has taken note of the growing concerns around the Alabuga Start program, triggered by the Bloomberg article,” Russia’s embassy in South Africa said in a statement on X that linked back to its website. "The embassy has no information, apart from that spread through some biased outlets, of foreign nationals being subjected to forced labour, tricked into some actions, or otherwise experiencing violation of their rights in the course of the program.”
On Sunday, Clayson Monyela, head of public diplomacy at South Africa’s foreign ministry, cautioned against accepting "unverified foreign job offers” in a post on X. He didn’t mention Russia or Alabuga by name.
His ministry last week said it was aware of the Alabuga program and "is actively investigating reports of foreign programs that recruit South Africans under false pretenses.”
Monyela said Monday morning in an interview on 702 Talk Radio that his ministry had helped return one South African woman to the country after she contacted the embassy in Moscow "after realising what was promised wasn’t true.”
"We are extremely worried,” he said. "Influencers have been mobilised to promote these opportunities that look very good on paper.” – Bloomberg
