Pretoria said late last year that it had received “distress calls” from 17 men who were trapped in the epicentre of the fiercest ongoing fighting in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region after being tricked into joining mercenary forces.
Four of the men landed back home last week and 11 were expected to return soon, the presidency said on Tuesday.
Two other South Africans remain in Russia, with one in hospital and the other being processed before planned travel home, it added.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa “expressed his heartfelt gratitude to President Vladimir Putin, who responded positively to his call to support the process of returning the men home,” the presidency said in a statement.
Ramaphosa said the repatriations had been facilitated through diplomatic channels following a commitment by Putin earlier this month.
“The investigation into the circumstances that led to the recruitment of these young men into mercenary activities is ongoing,” the presidency added.
South African law bans its citizens from fighting for a foreign country’s army without government authorisation.
In recent months, reports have surfaced from African countries, including South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe, about young men fraudulently recruited for work abroad, only to end up on the front lines in Russia and Ukraine.
Ukraine’s foreign minister said in November that more than 1,400 citizens from 36 African countries had been identified among the Russian ranks.
Last week, Kenya’s National Intelligence Service said more than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war, with 89 currently on the front line.
Lured by lucrative job offers
In South Africa, at least three people are being investigated in connection with the 17 men recruited to Russia, including Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma.
She has denied any wrongdoing but resigned as a lawmaker in South Africa’s parliament following the claims.
South Africa’s government said in December that it had received distress calls from the men who said they were trapped in Ukraine’s war-torn east.
The men, all aged between 20 and 39, had joined mercenary forces under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts, the government said.
Thulani Mahlangu, a spokesperson and relative of one of the four South Africans who arrived from Russia last week, told The Associated Press news agency that the men had now been released to their homes after questioning by police.
“They were questioned for quite some time when they arrived here in South Africa because there is still an investigation about how they ended up in Russia. But they were released after talking to the police,” said Mahlangu.
South Africa has sought to maintain a non-aligned stance on the conflict in Ukraine, while preserving strong ties with Moscow as a fellow BRICS member alongside Brazil, India and China.
A majority of the Donbas, which comprises Donetsk and Luhansk, is controlled by Russian forces and fighting has been heavy there since Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago. It remains the thorniest issue to resolve in any elusive peace deal. While Moscow wants the area in its entirety, Kyiv refuses to cede the territory and the Ukrainian constitution forbids such a surrender of land.
Aljazeera
