South Africa Ministry warns young women about risky Russian job schemes

Key topics:SA ministry warns against unverified job offers in Russia.Russian firms recruit young women for alleged drone factory work.Influencers promoting risky jobs face police scrutiny in South Africa..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Antony Sguazzin.The ministry for women in South Africa’s presidency cautioned citizens against accepting offers of jobs in Russia being promoted on social media.The warning was issued three days after Bloomberg News reported that firms from Russia, including one that’s been accused of tricking young women into working in a military drone assembly plant, were targeting South Africa to recruit labor. “The so-called work opportunities advertised on social media for positions in Russia are not facilitated with any government intervention,” the Ministry in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities said in a statement on Monday. “We urge our young people to be vigilant. Alabuga Start, a recruitment arm of Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone, has been expanding a push it began in 2023 to hire women between the ages of 18 and 22 from Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia to solve a labor shortage at home. Three research reports from groups including the Institute for Science and International Security have alleged that the young women end up working in a drone factory regularly bombed by Ukraine..Read more:.Russia’s push to recruit African women to build drones triggers SA Govt probe .The ministry said it will “engage stakeholders” including the Russian Embassy in South Africa and local groups recruiting on behalf of Alabuga about the program. It has compiled a list of more than 10 social media influencers that it will hand over to the police for investigation, Steve Letsike, deputy minister of the women, youth and persons with disabilities, said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika, a South African television station.“The Embassy has taken note of the growing concerns around the Alabuga Start program, triggered by the Bloomberg article,” Russia’s embassy in South Africa said in a statement on X that linked back to its website. “The embassy has no information, apart from that spread through some biased outlets, of foreign nationals being subjected to forced labor, tricked into some actions, or otherwise experiencing violation of their rights in the course of the program.”On Sunday, Clayson Monyela, head of public diplomacy at South Africa’s foreign ministry, cautioned against accepting “unverified foreign job offers” in a post on X. He didn’t mention Russia or Alabuga by name.Please warn young people (girls in particular) not to fall for unverified foreign job offers....Some are being promoted by influencers on Tik Tok, Instagram & other SM platforms. Human trafficking syndicates are luring people into all sorts of illegal activities under slave-life…— Clayson Monyela (@ClaysonMonyela) August 24, 2025His ministry last week said it was aware of the Alabuga program and “is actively investigating reports of foreign programs that recruit South Africans under false pretences.”Monyela said Monday morning in an interview on 702 Talk Radio that his ministry had helped return one South African woman to the country after she contacted the embassy in Moscow “after realizing what was promised wasn’t true.”“We are extremely worried,” he said. “Influencers have been mobilized to promote these opportunities that look very good on paper.”.© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

South Africa Ministry warns young women about risky Russian job schemes

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