Probe urged into alleged South African recruiters tied to Myanmar scam compounds - IOL

Eighteen months after 23 South Africans were repatriated from a facility in Myanmar where they were forced to work in online centres, human trafficking organisations involved in the rescue are appealing to law enforcement agencies to pursue recruiters operating within South Africa.

Last year, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said the rescue formed part of a larger operation involving 7,000 people from various countries who were held hostage at these centres.

DIRCO said the South Africans had been lured to the Kingdom of Thailand under false pretences by an employment agency that promised them lucrative jobs advertised on social media platforms.

“The recruiters would promise victims good salaries, free accommodation, comprehensive travel expenses and other lucrative benefits and once in Thailand, they were transported to Myanmar against their will,” DIRCO said in a previous statement.

In recent months, there has been a significant increase in human-trafficking cases being investigated by the Hawks, formally the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), in which victims were allegedly lured through social media platforms across the country.

In a recent case, a victim was lured via TikTok with an offer of work as a hair stylist in Cape Town. When she arrived in Cape Town, the kidnappers took her passport and travel documents and allegedly attempted to force her into prostitution. A 29-year-old woman was arrested.

Also in the Western Cape, a 55-year-old man was arrested this month for allegedly trafficking a 21-year-old woman who was allegedly lured with an offer to work as a sex worker.

Elsewhere in the country, the Makhanda High Court convicted 42-year-old farmer Louis Stephanus Lategan on six counts of human trafficking, multiple counts of rape and assault. He allegedly lured young women seeking au pair work to his remote farm, drugged them and abused them between 2020 and 2023.

In March 2026, the Hawks arrested a 27-year-old suspect who allegedly lured an Egyptian man to South Africa with false employment offers, confiscated his travel documents, forced him to work without pay and assaulted him.

Experts and human trafficking organisations say this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Emma van der Walt, founder and chief executive of Brave to Love (BTL), an organisation that assists human-trafficking victims locally and globally and was instrumental in last year’s Myanmar case, said the syndicate was still active.

“These organised criminals have moved rapidly on online platforms since Covid-19. The whole recruitment phase of human trafficking has been online,” she said.

“This is still used to lure people in person. An example is if a female trusts another female and they lure them to the sex trade or into prostitution or via friends or where parties are happening and they do a slow grooming process.

“Recruitment can happen via platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and these scammers are still trying to recruit South Africans to come abroad and they end up in slavery, abusive and labour trafficking situations.

“There has definitely been an increase because of the vulnerability of youth, young people and job opportunities, not just in South Africa but abroad.”

Van der Walt is now calling on authorities to track down the recruiters linked to Myanmar.

“With Myanmar, they (scammers) are still recruiting, the survivors are telling us that they are actively recruiting some from South Africa, using the same network, so we are calling on the DPCI, the Hawks and the SAPS to actually start making arrests on these recruiters within South Africa because some of them are based in South Africa,” she said.

“Victims have also reached out from Cambodia, not just Myanmar but in Cambodia there has been safe repatriations.”

In response to van der Walt's call, the Hawks said their office had yet to be part of any new cases.

“This office confirms that we do have Myanmar cases.”

The National Minister of Social Development (DSD), Dina Pule's office said it was witnessing an increase in cases but that the crime itself was “hidden”.

Speaking on DSD's behalf, Human Trafficking, Buti Kolwane advised that their office would respond to such claims and cases once they were referred: “We are indeed seeing an increase but it should also be understood that the crime is a ‘hidden’ one and dependent on one’s understanding of the definition and elements for them to conclude that a person was indeed trafficked. We depend on referrals from law enforcement and there are cases that went through the criminal justice system without the involvement of the DSD. 

“The repatriation of two Eastern Cape minors who were trafficked to Malawi happens to be one of the cases that law enforcement (Interpol) brought to our attention and we ensured that the family received the necessary psychosocial support.  Gauteng DSD dealt with hundreds of undocumented Ethiopian migrants who were suspected to have either been smuggled or trafficked. 

“Our role is to conduct individual assessments in order to identify elements of trafficking and recommend for the issuing of a Letter of Recognition by the Head of Social Development if the Act, Means and Exploitation elements are found during the assessment interview.  Arrests of suspected traffickers can only be confirmed by law enforcement, not DSD.”

Celeste Louw, general operations manager at the TEARS Foundation, shared insight into the dangers of false job offers and what survivors may face after exploitation.

Louw said A21’s South African Human Trafficking Hotline reported that 40.5% of the trafficking victims it identified in 2025 were recruited through false job opportunities. That figure comes from its own work, not a national estimate or proof that TikTok is driving an increase.

“If you are offered work online, call the employer on a number you found yourself. Confirm the vacancy, duties, pay and interview address,” she added.

“Do not pay to secure a job or surrender your ID or passport. Tell someone you trust where you are going. If the job or destination changes, check again before travelling."