Eleven South African men who were allegedly tricked into fighting for Russian forces in Ukraine returned home Wednesday.
The men were among 17 who became trapped after being deceived into joining mercenary activities. Family members at Durban’s airport became emotional as they watched the men disembark.
A family representative expressed gratitude for the government’s role in securing their return.
“Our assistance was mainly on negotiating with the Minister of [International Relations and Cooperation], Mr. [Ronald] Lamola, who was so kind to us and he listened, and he started actioning the way how to get them back,” the representative said. “We are proud of the men and we are proud of our government also because President [Cyril] Ramaphosa managed to talk to the President of Russia and in a very swift manner everything was done and our men are on their way back and the others are already here.”
President Ramaphosa stated that investigations continue into how the men were recruited.
Four of them returned last week while two remain in Russia, where one is in hospital, according to the South African government.
The family representative also called for legal action against the recruiters.
“We want to see justice happening. We want to see the government taking drastic decisions against those people that have sold our men in Russia,” the representative said. “It mustn’t be because you have a certain name or you have served as something then the government must take too long to charge these people. We know if it was a man on the street, he would have been behind bars right now, but they are still working.”
Ukraine reports that over 1,780 Africans have been identified among Russian ranks. Reports link the recruitment to South Africa’s opposition MK party, an issue that led a daughter of ex-president Jacob Zuma to resign.