South Africa has a law from 1998 that stops its citizens from helping foreign armies without permission. Recently, five people were caught trying to leave the country with plans to work for a foreign army, showing this old law is still active. This law was first used against Mark Thatcher, the son of a British prime minister, for funding a coup. Now, recruiters use social media and tricky methods to send South Africans to fight in other countries’ wars. This old law, with its big fines and jail time, is now facing a new challenge as it’s being used against people connected to powerful families.
What is South Africa’s Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act of 1998?
The Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act 15 of 1998 is a South African law prohibiting citizens from providing combat, advisory, logistical, financial, intelligence, recruitment, or moral assistance to foreign armies without government permission, aiming to prevent mercenaries and their violent skills from returning home.
1. A Tuesday Night at Gate A15 – The Law Everyone Forgot
At 19:43 on a crisp May evening, the automatic doors of OR Tambo’s international pier glided apart and five would-be travellers walked straight into legal folklore. Four twenty-somethings in hoodies and a well-known 39-year-old radio personality never reached the jet-bridge; detectives from the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime unit blocked their path, read rights seldom heard in any South African courtroom, and marched them to the basement holding cells.
The charge sheet looked like a typo: “Contravention of Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act 15 of 1998.” Immigration supervisors had to thumb through an internal wiki to confirm the statute even existed. In the duffel bags detectives found printed contracts written in Cyrillic, phrase books titled “Russian for Security Staff,” and bank slips showing fresh deposits from a Dubai-registered “risk-management” firm. None of the five had asked Pretoria’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) for permission to leave; under the 1998 Act that omission is itself a crime.
Parliament passed the law in a panic just before the millennium, convinced that battle-hardened South Africans might hire themselves out to foreign wars and bring their violent trade secrets home. The wording is sweeping: anyone who supplies “combat, advisory, logistical, financial, intelligence, recruitment or moral assistance” without an NCACC permit is guilty. Pull a trigger, wire money, post a motivational meme – if it helps a foreign army, you’re in breach. The accused had allegedly done all three. Tuesday’s bust means the law, dormant since a British viscount’s heir last felt its sting, is back.
2. The Thatcher Blueprint – How a British Heir Wrote South Africa’s Playbook
Nineteen years earlier the same airport witnessed an almost identical scene. Mark Thatcher, son of the former British prime minister, was arrested after he bank-rolled a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea. Court papers showed $275,000 funneled to mercenary boss Simon Mann; when Mann’s plane full of guns and ex-Special Forces men landed in Harare, South African investigators traced the cash trail back to Thatcher’s Constantia mansion. Facing a potential 15-year sentence, he plea-bargained a R3 million fine, a suspended prison term, and forfeiture of his seized Mercedes and laptop. It remains the only time a civilian financier has been convicted under the Act, and it created a prosecutorial roadmap now being photocopied for Mantula’s group.
The echo is uncanny: political pedigree, offshore bank transfers, recruitment disguised as “close-protection consultancy,” and an assumption that diplomatic connections neutralise domestic law. Thatcher thought his mother’s friendship with Nelson Mandela would deliver a quiet phone call; Mantula reportedly told recruits that “revolutionary structures” would protect them. Both discovered South African neutrality is a legal hard-line, not a diplomatic cushion. Prosecutors are already drafting plea-bargain terms that mirror Thatcher’s: heavy fine, suspended sentence, asset forfeiture. The only question is whether a Johannesburg magistrate will see the precedent as ceiling or floor.
3. Pipeline to the Front – Anatomy of a Modern Mercenary Recruitment Chain
Hawks affidavits sketch a recruitment choreography so standardised it could be franchised:
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Step 1 – Digital Trawl*
Recruiters haunt Facebook groups like “SA Security Jobs Abroad” and TikTok channels glamorising “pipeline protection” gigs. Direct messages promise $3,500–$5,000 tax-free, plus Russian visas arranged in Cairo to dodge Pretoria’s biometric alerts. -
Step 2 – Indoctrination*
Candidates sign NDAs and “morality contracts” pledging to call themselves “humanitarian volunteers” if questioned. Training locations arrive only as Cyrillic GPS coordinates. -
Step 3 – Ghost Flights*
Chartered Ilyushins depart from military hangars, sidestepping civilian passenger manifests. South Africa’s 24-hour advance-list rule does not apply to air-force bases, even when the aircraft are privately hired. -
Step 4 – Debt Bondage*
On arrival in Rostov passports disappear and a $1,000 “service levy” is clipped from the first wage, ensuring the recruit is instantly indebted and compliant.
At least seventeen South Africans took that ride in December 2023, among them eight relatives or in-laws of former president Jacob Zuma. According to Hawks statements, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla – daughter of the ex-president and social-media voice of the MK Party – told them they would receive VIP-protection instruction in Moscow. Instead, their phones were geo-located inside occupied Ukraine and at least two appeared on Telegram carrying Wagner-branded rifles. Zuma-Sambudla has not been arrested, but a provisional docket lists possible counts of recruitment and financing. Her lawyers insist no money moved inside South Africa and that “foreign friends” arranged the trip. Prosecutors counter that the Act criminalises even verbal encouragement uttered on local soil.
4. Rusty Statute, Sharp Teeth – Why the 1998 Law Still Hurts
The Act predates Telegram, crypto-wallets and e-visa, but its punitive claws remain intact: unlimited fines, asset forfeiture and prison terms left entirely to a judge’s discretion. Hawks have already seized a 2022 Toyota Quantum that ferried Mantula’s group; if the state proves it facilitated the offence, the minibus becomes property of the Revenue Fund whether the owner knew the plot or not. The same clause cost Thatcher his chartered King Air; it later sold at a Pretoria auction for spare parts.
Parliament has dragged its feet on updates since 2017. A draft amendment proposes mandatory 15-year sentences and jurisdiction over cyber-enabled recruitment, but private-security lobbyists warn legitimate anti-piracy contracts could be snared in the dragnet. While legislators dither, recruiters evolve: encrypted chat channels, shell companies registered in ghost towns, and Russian field hospitals that prescribe South African antibiotics hinting at unofficial SANDF medical links.
The dilemma now sits on the desks of prosecutors and politicians: wield an antique but deadly statute against the children of presidents and prime-time celebrities, or watch the republic mutate into a labour exchange for other people’s wars. The forgotten law has resurfaced; whether its bite reaches the offspring of power will depend less on jurisprudence than on political courage.
[{“question”: “What is South Africa’s Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act of 1998?”, “answer”: “The Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act 15 of 1998 is a South African law prohibiting citizens from providing combat, advisory, logistical, financial, intelligence, recruitment, or moral assistance to foreign armies without government permission. It aims to prevent mercenaries and their violent skills from returning home and applies broadly, criminalizing actions from pulling a trigger to wiring money or even posting a motivational meme if it aids a foreign army.”}, {“question”: “When was this law last significantly enforced before the recent arrests?”, “answer”: “The law was last significantly enforced nineteen years prior to the recent arrests, against Mark Thatcher, the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He was arrested for bankrolling a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea, ultimately facing a plea bargain that included a substantial fine, a suspended prison term, and forfeiture of assets.”}, {“question”: “How are South Africans being recruited to fight in foreign wars?”, “answer”: “Recruitment often involves several steps: digital trawling on social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok, offering attractive tax-free salaries ($3,500-$5,000). Candidates sign NDAs and ‘morality contracts’ and are told to identify as ‘humanitarian volunteers’. They are then transported via ‘ghost flights’ on chartered Ilyushins from military hangars, bypassing civilian manifests. Upon arrival, passports are often confiscated and a ‘service levy’ is deducted, creating debt bondage.”}, {“question”: “What are the penalties for contravening the 1998 Act?”, “answer”: “The Act carries severe penalties, including unlimited fines, asset forfeiture, and prison terms whose length is left to a judge’s discretion. For example, assets like vehicles used to facilitate the offense can be seized by the state, regardless of the owner’s knowledge of the plot. A proposed amendment suggests mandatory 15-year sentences and expanded jurisdiction for cyber-enabled recruitment.”}, {“question”: “Who was involved in the recent arrests at O.R. Tambo International Airport?”, “answer”: “Five individuals were arrested at O.R. Tambo International Airport, including four twenty-somethings and a 39-year-old radio personality. They were attempting to leave the country with contracts written in Cyrillic, Russian phrasebooks, and bank slips indicating deposits from a Dubai-registered ‘risk-management’ firm, all without the required permission from the NCACC.”}, {“question”: “Are there any high-profile individuals or their relatives linked to these recruitment schemes?”, “answer”: “Yes, several high-profile individuals or their relatives have been linked. For instance, at least seventeen South Africans, including eight relatives or in-laws of former president Jacob Zuma, reportedly traveled in December 2023. Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, his daughter, is mentioned in Hawks’ statements for allegedly telling recruits they would receive VIP protection training in Moscow, with their phones later geo-located in occupied Ukraine. A provisional docket lists possible counts of recruitment and financing against her, though her lawyers deny money moved inside South Africa.”}]
