South Africa: Safm Presenter and Four Others in the Dock Over Alleged Russia Mercenaries Recruitment Plot

By Victoria O'regan

Five suspects appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrates' Court on Monday charged with contravening the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act.

The case against five suspects arrested on charges in connection with the recruitment of South Africans to fight as mercenaries for the Russian armed forces has been postponed to Monday, 8 December, for a formal bail application.

A broadcaster at the SABC radio station SAfm, Nonkululeko Mantula (39), and her four co-accused, Xolani Ntuli (46), Thulani Mazibuku (24), Siphamdla Chabalala (23), and Sfiso Mabena (21), appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrates' Court on Monday, 1 December.

They have been charged with contravening the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act (RFMAA), 15 of 1998.

"The State requested a seven-day postponement to allow for the verification of the accuseds' residential addresses," said the National Prosecuting Authority's Gauteng spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, on Monday.

On Friday, 28 November, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) arrested four South African men at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport, en route to Russia via the United Arab Emirates. They were suspected of having been recruited to fight in Russia's military.

Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale on Saturday said the men were arrested after the OR Tambo South African Police Service flagged their behaviour as suspicious. They were referred to the Hawks' Crimes Against the State unit....

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