JOHANNESBURG—An exotic dancer from Moldova who was jailed for not paying her debts in South Africa has helped get the country’s debt law changed.
Tatiana Malachi was brought to South Africa by a Cape Town dance club, and the club’s owners said she owed them for the money spent on her accommodation, visas and other travel costs.
The owners kept her passport to ensure she paid. When they learned she had sought help from Russian diplomats and planned to leave the country in July 2009, they had her arrested. After spending two weeks in jail she returned to Moldova.
In a ruling this week, South Africa’s highest court said portions of the country’s debt law dating back to 1944 allowing for such detention were unconstitutional
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