As reported by Reuters
The Government of South Africa is investigating the recruitment of its citizens to participate in the war against Ukraine and is working to bring 17 people back home who sought help after finding themselves in a combat zone.
According to available information, men aged 20 to 39 were lured into taking part in fighting under the guise of lucrative employment contracts and ended up in the conflict zones in Donbas.
«President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered an investigation into the circumstances that led to the recruitment of these young people into what appears to be mercenary activity,» the statement says.
Recruitment and the Legal Framework
Under local law, citizens and organizations are prohibited from offering or providing military assistance to foreign governments or participating in another state’s armed conflicts without government authorization.
They also report that in August, authorities warned the youth about the risks of fraudulent job offers in Russia circulating on social media; there were reports that some South African women were deceived into drone production.
Russia is conducting a broad recruitment campaign for mercenaries in various regions around the world, masking it as cooperation with governments and security forces.
In December last year, in the Russian-occupied Donetsk, a delegation from African countries was hosted to discuss the possibility of recruiting mercenaries into the Russian military.
This case underscores the need for heightened monitoring and preventive measures by the government and law enforcement agencies to protect citizens from such temptations.
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