Chinese Nationals Arrested for Allegedly Running KwaZulu-Natal Sweatshop With Tourist Visas
- Immigration police arrested a group of Chinese nationals and South Africans in a video that became viral on social media
- The video shows the officers, with the help of the South African Police Service, loading the suspects in and confronting them about their documentation
- The Azania Movement welcomed the arrest of the Chinese nationals and slammed the sweatshop for allegedly paying workers R50 per week
Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News’ Deputy Head of the Current Affairs desk, South Africa, covered a range of criminal activities, including cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, shootings, police investigations, police shootouts, and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.
Source: UGC
NEWCASTLE, KWAZULU-NATAL — The Azania Movement welcomed the arrest of a group of Chinese nationals in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, for allegedly operating a sweatshop. The Movement slammed the slave wages that the shop owners allegedly paid their workers.
Journalist Sihle Mavuso posted a video of the arrest on his @ZANewsFlash X account on 6 February 2026. In the video, one of the South African Police Service (SAPS) officers questions why the Chinese nationals are working using tourism visas. He speaks as a Chinese national is being ushered into the back of an Immigration Services van.
Chinese nationals arrested
As the Chinese national was loaded into the van, another Chinese national is already seated inside. The police officer continues to berate them and says that they cannot work on a tourist visa. Two more people, including a male Chinese national and an African, are ushered into the van.
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The identity and nationality of the African cannot be confirmed. The police officer points to the woman who was already in the vehicle and asks her how old she is. He then asks another one what documents they use to identify themselves. One of them is let out of the van.
Watch the full video on X here:
Azania Movement welcomes the arrest
The Azania Movement welcomed the arrest of the Chinese nationals. In a statement, the organisation accused the Chinese nationals of paying their workers R50 per week. The organisation also rejected the Draft Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection and said South Africans were not consulted.
Source: Getty Images
Five undocumented foreign nationals were arrested after they were found in a Durban massage parlour on 17 August 2025. The SAPS conducted a raid in the north of Durban where a suspected brothel was operating. The police found that the house also had illegal water and electricity connections.
Five foreign nationals were arrested during a drug bust in Mpumalanga on 19 September 2025. The police received a tip-off about a strange smell at a farm in Volksrust, where they found a crystal-methamphetamine factory and drugs with a street value of R350 million.
Foreign nationals arrested at Gauteng waste facility
In a related article, Briefly News reported that 10 undocumented foreign nationals were arrested at a waste facility in Gauteng. The police conducted a joint operation involving various government departments.
The operation was conducted in Vereeniging and resulted in the waste facility's closure. The facility also operated without a proper waste management license.
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Source: Briefly News
