A factory manager employed at Beautiful City in the trial of seven Chinese nationals charged with human trafficking and child labour today told the Gauteng Division of the High Court (Johannesburg) that no workers were kept in the factory premises against their will.

Testifying during the start of the defence case accused number one - Kevin Tsao Shu-Uei told the Court that it was not true that workers were not allowed to leave the factory.

However, State witnesses had earlier testified that workers at Beautiful City were kept in the locked and high wall premises manned by security guards carrying “guns".

Tsao Shu-Uei together with fellow co-accused: Chen Hui, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying, and Zhang Zhilian are facing schedule six offences.

The accused are facing counts of human trafficking, contravention of Immigration Act, kidnapping, pointing a firearm, debt bondage, benefitting from the services of a victim of trafficking, conduct that facilitates trafficking, illegally assisting person(s) to remain in South Africa, and failure to comply with duties of an employer.

The Chinese nationals were arrested on 12 November 2019 in a joint operation carried out at their premises of a company called Beautiful City Pty Ltd located at Village Deep in Johannesburg….