South African influencer Cyan Boujee apologizes for Russian viral jobs

A South African influencer linked to a controversial employment program in Russia apologized for her role in promoting her promotion in a country where many young people have desperately place to find a job.

Cyan Boujee, whose real name is Honor Zuma, was examined after one of the videos she published online advertising jobs for women aged 18 to 22 has become viral.

This has prompted the government to issue a warning concerning the program and alert people to the dangers of human trafficking and “employment possibilities that are not verified abroad”.

“Immediately when I saw the comments on my stories and my videos … I knew that it is not something with which I stand,” said 902,000 subscribers on Instagram.

Popularly known as Cyan, the influencer deleted promotional videos from his social media pages. They had described an opportunity for a “fresh new start” for young women at the start of their career.

In a video shot in Tatarstan in Russia and published during the weekend on Tiktok, where she has 1.7 million followers, Cyan had declared that it was a two -year “start -up program” for those who wanted to acquire professional skills – although this was not specified in the professions.

She had explained that hired people would receive jobs and learned to speak Russian.

There have been allegations that some of the people recruited to work at Tatarstan ended up working in an arms factory, making drones that have been used in the Russian war in Ukraine.

In her Instagram apologies, Cyan recognized that “the trafficking in human beings is a very, very serious affair”, adding that the backlash had been a “huge learning curve” for her and “and all the other influencers”.

“I knew it was something that I had to delete immediately, I didn’t care about money,” she said.

“I apologize and I think it’s not something that will be repeated again.”

There have been huge repercussions on social networks on employment videos, with a petition launched calling influencers to use their platforms to “make known the signs and dangers of traffic”.

The authorities have launched an investigation into the program. The Deputy Minister of Justice, Andries Nel, said that “so-called opportunities” were often “linked to serious risks of exploitation of work and trafficking in human beings”.

“Never rely only on social media promotions or unsolicited advertisements on social networks, do not overlap and always check job opportunities through official channels,” he said on Wednesday.

One of the main recruiters of the program promoted by Cyan and other influencers is a special economic area in Tatarstan, where weapons are supposed to be produced.

A report by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime published in May examined the recruitment of people for the “Start” program.

He said that “potential recruits are encouraged to participate in false claims concerning the nature of work, working conditions and education opportunities”, adding that the objective is to support the “drone production program”.

Most work “directly in drone production, while others work as support staff – cleaners and caterers”.

In one of his now deleted videos, Cyan said that “apparently girls are treated fairly here – Africans, Asian, Latin American”.