South African authorities have charged a 38-year-old foreign national under the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act 1998 after arresting him at OR Tambo International Airport on Wednesday night.
The Hawks said the man was allegedly travelling to take part in the Russia-Ukraine war. He was due to appear in the Kempton Park Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. No plea or judicial finding has been reported, and the allegation remains unproved.
The arrest followed an operation involving Interpol’s Pretoria bureau, the Hawks’ Crimes Against the State and Serious Organised Crime unit, police intelligence and other enforcement bodies. Authorities said intelligence gathered during the investigation led to the airport intervention.
Nine other foreign nationals, aged between 20 and 26, were arrested earlier in the week in a separate but similar investigation. Officials alleged that group was preparing to leave the country when police intervened at the airport and a Johannesburg hotel. The government announcement did not state that the cases had been joined.
