How Russian job scams exploit SA women

CONCERN is mounting over alleged Russian job scams and South African influencers promoting the Alabuga Start programme. As unemployment continues to rise among youth in South Africa, the need to grasp opportunities is a risk youth take to ensure they have food on the table.

- ROBIN-LEE FRANCKE [e-mail]

This comes after influencers, such as social media star and DJ Cyan Boujee, travelled to Russia for a paid influencer campaign and shared a video documenting the trip over the weekend. Her content highlighted aspects of Alabuga’s operations.

According to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, in October 2024, the Associated Press reported that women from Africa, largely Central and East African countries, were recruited via social media to work in a factory in Russia assembling drones to be launched in Ukraine. Anti-gender-based violence organisation, Iitha Labanthu, has condemned the exploitative job scams targeting young women in South Africa.

‘The organisation's spokesperson, Siyabulela Monakali, said these scams not only deceive women with false promises of lucrative opportunities but also expose them to the grave dangers of trafficking, sexual exploitation, and other forms of gender-based violence.