The South African authorities have sent a loud message to our girls and young women. They warn specifically against viral recruitment runs on social media that offer jobs overseas. The alert particularly focuses on women between the ages of 18 and 22, a subset of the population that is especially susceptible to these luring temptations. TikTok multimillionaire Honour Zuma, aka Boujee aka Cyan Boujee, has 1.7 million followers on TikTok for influencing people to love blackness. She’s using her bully pulpit to actively recruit for these jobs, saying they provide a “beautiful fresh new start.”
The recruitment program turned a lot of heads with its visually pleasing, compelling pitch. It offers young women a two-year “begin programme” aimed at kick-starting their careers. Fellows will undergo Russian language immersion training. All this training is meant to prepare them to win jobs back in their home country. Honour Zuma has emphasized that “apparently girls are treated fairly here – Africans, Asians, Latin Americans,” attempting to foster a sense of inclusivity in the recruitment process.
The South African government is rightly alarmed about a highly risky trend. Now these influencers are using their platforms to continue luring young people into created, sometimes violent, situations overseas. Clayson Monyela, South Africa’s Director-General of Public Diplomacy, made notes on Twitter about what these recruiting sprees mean. He explained that people they had brought to work in Tatarstan were redirected to factories for weapon production. Now, these Chinese factories are fuelling Russia’s continuing war effort in Ukraine by providing China-based production capacity for commercial drones.
Authorities are now closely scrutinizing an influencer recruitment video that Honour Zuma posted. They’ve removed it as well from her account retroactively. This level of scrutiny sends a clear message that the government will not stand idly while its citizens are exploited and placed in dangerous situations. Monyela warned, “Whenever something seems too good to be true, always seek a second opinion.” She encouraged young women and their parents to be cautious when assessing these types of opportunities.
The economic climate in South Africa is a difficult one. At the same time, millions of young people are jobless and hungry for opportunity. This desperation can, in turn, leave them more vulnerable to the seductive offers of traffickers that can promise them the world back home. The government’s warning serves as a reminder of the potential risks associated with such recruitment practices, especially when influenced by social media personalities.