Nine Zimbabweans charged with mercenary activity, bail hearing postponed
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Zambian Observer
The bail application of five Zimbabweans arrested at OR Tambo airport has been postponed to 17 November. They are charged with mercenary activities under the Foreign Military Assistance Act, the group being suspected of planning to join the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the Gauteng NPA.
Nine Zimbabwean nationals appeared before the Kempton Park and Johannesburg Magistrates' Courts in South Africa on alleged mercenary activities linked to the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the Gauteng Prosecuting Authority, as cited by the Zambian Observer. They are charged under the Foreign Military Assistance Act, which prohibits offering or agreeing to provide military assistance, or enlisting as a mercenary in a foreign armed conflict, without government authorisation. Their hearings have been postponed to 10 and 12 November 2026 to allow them to be represented by a lawyer.
The bail application of five of them, who were arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, has been postponed to 17 November, as the prosecutor was not available at the hearing. According to the Gauteng prosecution spokesperson, Abram Magaboke, the accused planned to use South Africa as a transit country to reach the combat zone in Ukraine as fighters.
South African authorities had arrested the men as they were attempting to leave the country, as already reported in Nine Zimbabweans arrested in South Africa to join the Russia-Ukraine war.
