Ramaphosa, Putin discuss return of 17 SA men after families' urgent plea

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Russian President Vladimir Putin have pledged their support to the process of returning South Africans, who have been fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, to their home country.

This is according to a statement issued by the South African presidency on Tuesday night which said that Ramaphosa and Putin had discussed the conflict during a telephone call.

“In this regard, teams from both sides will continue their engagements towards the finalisation of this process,” the statement said, regarding the South African men trapped in the conflict.

The statement said Ramaphosa also expressed South Africa’s ongoing support to diplomatic and peaceful efforts aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

It came hours after relatives of the men held a media briefing in Durban during which they called for Ramaphosa's intervention.

Heart-wrenching details of the hardship faced by South African men trapped in the Russia-Ukraine conflict emerged during the briefing, including reports that they are being forced to continue fighting even after being injured and paralysed.

One of the men was severely injured and left paralysed with no feeling in his legs, but because he still has feeling in his hands, he has been told he must continue to contribute.

The men are in a dire state; they were allegedly lured to Russia under false pretences of undergoing security training and made to sign contracts that were written in Russian.

After three weeks of training, they were forced into a deadly conflict that has claimed thousands of lives since it started more than three years ago.

The families made a direct plea to Ramaphosa to intervene and bring the men back home. The families’ hopes were renewed after learning that a Kenyan national in a similar situation had been released.

They also learned from people in Russia that the only way the South Africans could be released is through Ramaphosa’s direct intervention.

The Department of International Relations last engaged with the families late last year, and there has been no news since. The relatives are concerned that, given the conditions they face and the brutal Russian winter, the South Africans are in serious danger.

Phumla Zuma detailed her family’s ordeal: “There are about eight children there that come from my family. There are 19 children that went there, but the two of them from Botswana were last heard from around August 2025. Two of the 17 were recently injured; one is in hospital and the other is out of hospital. One lost feeling in his left side, and the Russians say he still has feeling in his hands, and so he must continue to work. We do not know what type of work they expect him to do,” she said.

Zuma spoke of the state of their children: “They are telling us how much danger they are in. They said they are thankful for each and every minute they are able to stay alive. Can you imagine hearing that from your child? This is precisely why we are pleading with the president to intervene,” she said.

She stated that it was the difficult situation at home, being jobless, that made their children vulnerable to exploitation.

“If we knew what they were being sent there for, I would never have allowed it. It’s painful when you send a WhatsApp message and all you get is that one tick. You think, ‘Oh my God, something has happened,’ and you get relief when you see the second tick go through. I spoke to my son this morning, and while we were talking, a bomb went off somewhere and I had to cut the call. I pray they are safe.”

Another family member, Delani Zuma, said their brothers are being treated in Russia like black South Africans were under apartheid. “Can you imagine what will happen to them if they are captured by the Ukrainians?” he questioned. “We are appealing to the government to help us in any way they can. We know the government is not responsible; there are people responsible (for sending them there), but the president is the only one who can help them.”

Another family member added that they feared the contracts these men signed had also condemned them to possibly never coming back from this conflict.

“We were told that our brothers are now property of those with whom they signed contracts, whether they can work or cannot work. We were told that our brothers are now property of those with whom they signed contracts, whether they can work or cannot work.”

He said the release of the Kenyans who were in a similar situation had given the families hope. “We are hoping that if the president intervenes, they might be released. We do not know whether the Kenyans were released because of the president’s intervention. We are begging the president to intervene to release these men.”

Nombuyiselo Mkansi, another family member, pleaded with the president to intervene, saying, “We plead with our father, the president, to intervene in this issue and help our children come back home.”

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