Russia not involved in SA men’s war contracts, says Ntshavheni
The government says investigators are looking into a R14 million payment said to have been made to an individual linked to the recruitment of at least 17 South African men to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war.
The group, 16 of whom are from KwaZulu-Natal, say they were lured to Russia under false pretences.
They were allegedly told they would receive training in security work, but instead found themselves in the war.
Eleven men arrived at King Shaka International Airport on Wednesday after the government facilitated their return with Russian authorities.
Four others landed in Johannesburg last Friday.
Two others have yet to leave Russia.
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Speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing on Thursday, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said payment was allegedly made by the Wagner mercenary group to facilitate recruitment.
" Investigators will have to establish who received the money, for what purpose, and what they did with that money. But the investigations are ongoing."
Ntshavheni added that the government believes the Russian government was not involved in the recruitment.
" The South African authorities - we could not have access to those people, and part of the challenge was that these young men were made to sign contracts, which bound them for a period. For those contracts to be signed, payments were made.
"So the parties that contracted them declined to release them without payment, and it is for that reason, President Ramaphosa went to President Putin to say, 'We accept that it is not the Russian government that has recruited South Africans, but we need your intervention to get our young people back’.”
Minister of Internal Relations Ronald Lamola will be in KZN on Thursday to meet with the families.
