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A view shows a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine on May 15, 2022.
The African National Congress (ANC) is calling on government to spare no effort in establishing the circumstances surrounding 17 South Africans reportedly trapped in the war-torn Donbas region of Ukraine.
Reports say the South Africans have joined mercenary forces in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Working as a mercenary or fighting on behalf of another government is illegal in South Africa.
Briefed the media in Johannesburg on Tuesday, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula says the country must get a clear explanation on whose authority they had travelled.
Mbalula says, “There are South Africans trapped there, we have put out a statement and we want to reiterate we want to know who sent them there? What were they doing there? Were they mercenaries and all of that? We have said, as the ANC, they must leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of these 17 people; it was rumoured they were 20. It means that about three people have died, fathers of children have been dispatched to a war zone by somebody.”
