While the government is investigating how 17 South African men ended up in the war-torn area of Donbas in Western Ukraine, experts are warning of the growing, disturbing trend where job seekers are lured abroad with high-paying jobs.
Institute for Security Studies expert Willem Els says the case reflects a growing trend of young Africans being lured abroad under false promises of lucrative jobs, only to find themselves caught in dangerous and exploitative situations.
Els warned that South Africans are increasingly being targeted by criminal networks operating scams, citing recent cases in countries such as Myanmar and Namibia.
The government confirmed it had received distress calls from 17 South African men, aged between 20 and 39, who are trapped in the war-torn Donbas region of Ukraine. The group appealed for urgent assistance to return home.
According to the presidency, the group, 16 of whom come from KwaZulu-Natal and one from the Eastern Cape, were lured to join mercenary forces involved in the Ukraine-Russia war under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts.
Els said though there is not much information on the 17 men, the area they are reportedly trapped in ― Donbas ― is one of the flashpoints on the border with Russia and Ukraine.
It is not known whether they are fighting on the Ukrainian or the Russian side.
“Those are the questions that we need to ask. Are they fighting on the Russian side or are they fighting on the Ukrainian side? It makes it a different ballgame depending on which side they are on.”
He noted that Russia recruits men and they lose a lot of soldiers, about 100,000 per month in certain dangerous areas.
“They have some Africans, some people from Zambia, I think, who were killed there. There are people from Kenya who were killed there, and they’re fighting for them. They also recruited people from their prisons and they commuted their sentences if they went and fought,” he said.
He said the recruits get a day or two of training and are then sent to the frontlines.
“They call it the meat-grinding process, because they just keep on throwing bodies at the front line.”
Els said the same happens on the Ukrainian side.
That said, the government should be aware of international job fairs that are happening in its borders, and ensure that all companies recruiting are doing so for good jobs, and not jobs which may be in warzones.
— Shawn Duthie, director of Control Risks
“They are running out of men to fight because the longer the war draws out, the more soldiers are being killed on their side as well, and the fewer soldiers they have to fight. And that is why on their side, for instance, they have a lot of people that used to fight in Afghanistan, for the UK, or for the allied forces. So they volunteer, and they go and fight with them,” Els said.
He said the situation of the 17 trapped South Africans appears similar to other recent cases where people were lured abroad by false promises of well-paying jobs.
He referred to recent cases where jobseekers were coerced to work in a Russian drone-making factory, as well as a situation in Myanmar where South Africans were trafficked after being misled by similar offers.
“They they only provide you with a single ticket, not a return ticket. And then you don’t have money, because you are unemployed ... Then they take your passport, and once they have your passport, they own you. They force the people to work and they exploit them. We anticipate that this is more or less the same situation here.”
Els said if the men in Ukraine are in trouble and were lured there under false pretences and scammed, then the department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco) would have an obligation to see how they can assist.
He explained that many victims are driven by a lack of opportunities and difficult economic conditions which make them vulnerable to false promises of good pay and easy work abroad.
“But it can also be greed. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. When someone offers you a very lucrative contract for little work and time, you should be cautious. Some people still choose to take the risk, and that’s when things go wrong.”
The presidency said President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered an investigation into the circumstances that led to the recruitment of the young men into seemingly mercenary activities.
Migration expert Prof Loren Landau said he doesn’t have an estimated number of how many South Africans are seeking work opportunities abroad, but he believes the numbers are rising.
He said the domestic economy is offering fewer jobs and most will naturally look overseas.
“People who travel for work, particularly those without family elsewhere or whose families have not travelled extensively, are particularly likely to fall prey to scams. There is poor information, outright lying and generally exploitative situations,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shawn Duthie, director at global advisory firm Control Risks, said when you look at the statistics, it is still a very small percentage of young South Africans who have had problems when working abroad.
“There are still a lot of very good opportunities for young South Africans to work abroad — such as teaching English in Asia — that won’t hold the same risks the 17 citizens face in Russia,” he said.
Duthie said it was important for people to do their own research into a company before travelling or applying for a job overseas.
He added the government would not have time to vet every overseas job opportunity.
“That said, the government should be aware of international job fairs that are happening in its borders, and ensure that all companies recruiting are doing so for good jobs, and not jobs which may be in warzones,” said Duthie.
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