Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: THE South African government said on November 6 that seventeen of its citizens had joined mercenary forces in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and that it is probing the matter after the men sent distress calls for help to return home.
The men were lured into fighting under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts, a statement issued by South Africa’s presidency said. All are between the ages of 20 and 39 years and are trapped in Ukraine’s Donbas region, it said, adding that the government was working to bring them home.
Working as a mercenary or fighting on behalf of another government is illegal in South Africa, unless the government authorises it. Sixteen of the men were from KwaZulu-Natal and one from the Eastern Cape. Most of Ukraine’s Donbas region, where the 17 were said to be trapped, is under Russian military control. South Africa has an unemployment rate of more than 30%, and is even higher among young people, making them vulnerable for recruitment, analysts say.
