SA mercenaries in Nigeria face prosecution in SA

It has been reported that at least 100 mercenaries were assisting in the fight against Boko Haram

DEFENCE Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula issued a stern warning to South African mercenaries fighting Boko Haram in Nigeria, saying they face serious consequences for their actions.

While the former SA Defence Force (SADF) soldiers have been enlisted by the Nigerian government to help them fight the terrorist group, Mapisa-Nqakula said yesterday the Foreign Military Assistance Act prohibited South Africans from fighting outside the country for financial gain.

She said the conduct of the former SADF members was illegal and in violation of the laws of the country.

This means these former soldiers were liable for prosecution on their return.

It has been reported that at least 100 mercenaries were assisting in the fight against Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Former SADF soldier Leon Lotz was killed in Bono state in Nigeria, in March, confirming the involvement of mercenaries in Nigeria.

Mapisa-Nqakula, who was briefing the Cape Town Press Club following her budget vote, did not indicate if they would immediately pounce on the former soldiers once they returned.

Newly elected Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari also expressed concern this week that the outgoing government had hired the mercenaries. He said it was supposed to have been the Nigerian military taking on Boko Haram, and not using private soldiers.

Mapisa-Nqakula said South Africa had not deployed any troops in Nigeria. The action of the mercenaries had not been sanctioned by the government.

“To simply sneak out of the country for financial gain, it renders you a mercenary. Those are mercenaries and there should be consequences,” said MapisaNqakula.

The Foreign Military Assistance Act prescribes a prison term of up to six years.

The government introduced the act in 1998 after it emerged that former SADF soldiers were being employed as hired guns across the globe, but mainly in Africa.

One infamous case was the arrest of members of Executive Outcomes who were arrested in Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea for trying to overthrow the government of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in the mid2000s. Several of these men languished in foreign prisons for their role.

Late former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s son Mark Thatcher was also arrested in South Africa by the thenScorpions for being involved in the plot. He was released in 2005 after a plea bargain.

He was given a suspended four-year jail term and fined R3 million.