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Informative #russia-ukraine-war #south-africa #wagner-group #military-recruitment #mk-party #president-ramaphosa #international-relations #criminal-investigation #repatriation #mercenaries

Lamola confirms death of two SA men fighting in Russia-Ukraine war

Podcast Briefing 2:45

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Key Strategic Points

  1. 1 Two South African men have died on the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine war, confirmed by the Department of International Relations through diplomatic channels.
  2. 2 The 17 South Africans released and repatriated to Durban are not the same individuals as the two deceased men, a distinction the minister stressed to avoid confusion with families.
  3. 3 All 17 South Africans who signed release agreements with private military contractors have been freed from the front line, with President Ramaphosa's direct engagement with President Putin credited as instrumental in their release.
  4. 4 The recruitment scheme involved the Wagner Group (Vagna group) and is under active police investigation, with details of payments and involved parties to be disclosed by law enforcement and the National Prosecuting Authority.
  5. 5 Members of the MK party were allegedly involved in recruiting South Africans for the conflict, raising questions about parliamentary accountability for political parties implicated in the scheme.
  6. 6 Two of the 17 repatriated men remain in Russia due to medical reasons: one is severely injured and another is in unstable condition, with doctors advising against long-haul flights until they stabilize in several weeks.
  7. 7 The government stated it has no policy to compensate or reimburse money paid by recruits to private military companies, and resolution came through diplomatic channels and President Putin's 'act of grace'.
  8. 8 Minister Lamola confirmed that an unknown number of South Africans beyond the initial 17 have been involved in the conflict, making exact figures impossible to determine, though most have since been released.

Notable Quotes

“We have been informed that they have passed on. This is also in the context that truly it was not only the 17 that were in the conflict—we don't know the exact number but there were other South Africans.”

— Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations

“We engaged with them until we had to escalate the matter to the two heads of states where our president had to engage with President Putin and President Putin has been very cooperative.”

— Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations

“The South African government does not have a policy to pay for such kind of activities. So we could not pay nor could we make such a commitment.”

— Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations

“As a South African government, we have got a duty even if they were criminals or whatever, we had a duty to bring them back home and for the law to take its course here in South Africa.”

— Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations

“Some of them went there knowingly that they are going into the battlefield but some of them might have gone unaware—they innocently thought it's a job opportunity to resolve their participation in whatever employment as bodyguards and so forth.”

— Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations

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