President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that a group of 11 South African men allegedly lured to fight alongside Russian soldiers in the war against Ukraine are expected to return home soon.

It will bring to 15 the number of South African nationals to have returned after four men arrived in Johannesburg last week following months fighting on the front lines in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. They were allegedly deceived into traveling to Russia under the pretense that they would receive security training.

Ramaphosa’s office confirmed that four of them had returned last Friday, 11 others would be “on their way home soon” and another two at a later stage. It added that an investigation into their recruitment was ongoing.

Two other South Africans remain in Russia, with one in hospital and the other being processed before planned travel home, according to Ramaphosa, who said the repatriations have been facilitated through diplomatic channels following a commitment by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.

“The South African government working closely with the Russian government has secured a safe return of the men. The investigation into the circumstances that led to the recruitment of these young men into mercenary activities is ongoing.”
Cyril Ramaphosa

South Africa’s government said last year that it had received distress calls from the men who said they were trapped in Ukraine’s war-torn eastern Donbas region.

The men, all aged between 20 and 39, had joined mercenary forces under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts, the government said. Their travel to Russia appears consistent with other reports of African men who have been recruited to fight in the war against Ukraine.

At least three people are being investigated in connection with the men’s recruitment to Russia, including Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma.

Zuma-Sambudla has been named as the alleged recruiter in the scheme, an allegation she denies. Zuma-Sambudla, who was forced to resign as an MP over the scandal, said in an affidavit that she thought the men – some of whom are her relatives – were going to Russia for “lawful” training. “I would not, under any circumstances, knowingly expose my own family or any other person to harm,” she added.

The former MP filed her statement with police after her half-sister, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube, accused her of tricking South Africans to join the war and laid a criminal complaint against her in November.

She has denied any wrongdoing but resigned as a lawmaker in South Africa’s parliament following the claims.

In a separate case, police arrested five people in December – including a radio presenter with South Africa’s public broadcaster – on a charge related to the alleged recruitment of men for the Russian military. The five were released on bail – and the trial has yet to start.

Ramaphosa Thanks Russian President

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has thanked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for helping to secure the return of South Africans allegedly tricked into joining the Russia-Ukraine war.

His spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said in a statement that Ramaphosa expressed his heartfelt gratitude to President Vladimir Putin who responded positively to his call to support the process of returning the men home.

He added that South Africa’s embassy in Moscow would continue monitoring the lone citizen still in hospital until he was able to travel home.

According to an intelligence report presented to the Kenyan parliament last week, over 1,000 men from Kenya have been lured to Russia.

Dozens of Kenyan families have in recent weeks urged the government to bring back loved ones stranded in Russia, with some allegedly forced to fight on the front lines and others held as prisoners of war in Ukraine.