After multiple apologies, South African influencers finally came forward to share their side of the story, following the backlash they received online on advertising the Alabuga Russia program, that has been alleged to be linked to human trafficking.
Podcaster MacG hosted Sima ‘Seemah’ Mangolwane, Zille and Munaka Muthambi on his Podcast and Chill alongside Siya Mhlungu from SWAY Digital, one of the agencies that coordinated the campaign, giving them a chance to explain their involvement in the Russian jobs program.
The work program described as ‘Start’, targeted women aged 18 to 22 for hospitality and other roles. The influencers traveled to Russia, visited the program’s facilities, and reported that the participants they met were happy and properly compensated.
In the special edition of the podcast, Zille shared that he regrets not researching the program before promoting it.
“There’s no money in the world worth me being involved in such things,” he said.
He also vowed to donate his earnings from the campaign to NGO’s who are working tirelessly to stop human trafficking.
Meanwhile, Seemah and Munaka shared that during their time in Russia, they met women who were treated well, living in proper accommodation and learning skills like the Russian language. They also revealed that they did not witness any signs of human trafficking.
Sharing the agency’s involvement, Siya said they were contracted by an agency based in Dubai to join the social media campaign encouraging young women to find work in Russia. He said there were other South Africa-based agencies which were doing similar work, but they had yet to reveal themselves publicly.
He added that they did due diligence and extensive research before they involved influencers. He said his agency verified registration certificates, contacted previous participants, and reviewed the program’s infrastructure.
Siya also revealed that the Alabuga Start program was a Russian government funded program from the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, questioning why a government program could be involved in human trafficking.
Also see: Munaka Muthambi opens up about her involvement with Russian jobs scheme
