SA 'mercenaries' all home
2005-05-15 18:36
Johannesburg - All 61 alleged South African mercenaries were allowed into South Africa by immigration officials at the Beit Bridge border post on Sunday afternoon.
Only three men were allowed into the country at first.
The rest waited until after 15:00.
Reports of their time of arrival at the border differ between about 07:00 and 10:00.
Home Affairs department spokesperson Nkosana Sibuyi said the delay was necessitated by checking that their South African passports were authentic.
"This is part of the normal course of our work. Like any other country, we had to check and ensure that the men's documents were genuine.
"This is standard procedure," said Sibuyi.
Earlier reports had said there were 62 men in the group, but Sibuyi said the number was 61 as the other man was left behind because he was a Zimbabwean national.
The SABC reported that the men's lawyer, Alwyn Griebenow, had arranged for a bus from Polokwane to transport the group and their families from Beit Bridge.
The men were released from the Chikurubi maximum security prison outside Harare on Saturday night, where they spent a year after being convicted of violating Zimbabwe's immigration, aviation, firearms and security laws.
The charges were related to an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.
The men were kept at Chikurubi for a few more days after their sentences expired on Tuesday.
The two pilots who flew the men's aircraft into Harare in March last year will be released in two months' time.
The group was arrested at Harare International Airport when they apparently landed to refuel and pick up military equipment.
Zimbabwean authorities said they were on their way to join 15 other alleged mercenaries - including eight South Africans - arrested in Equatorial Guinea around the same time.
The men said the equipment found in their possession was to be used to guard mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The group in Equatorial Guinea was convicted and given long prison sentences for attempting to overthrow the country's long-time dictator, Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
- SAPA