Sixty-two alleged mercenaries are expected back in South Africa by noon on Thursday after their release from a Zimbabwean jail, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported.
Their lawyer, Alwyn Griebenow, said the men would leave a remand prison in Harare by 6am for the Beit Bridge border post near Musina in Limpopo.
The alleged mercenaries have completed 12 months prison sentences for violating a number of Zimbabwean immigration and security laws.
Griebenow could not be reached on Thursday morning to confirm their release or their time of departure.
South African ambassador Jerry Ndou said the men would leave Harare after the completion of all their immigration documents.
According to the SABC, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) would conduct investigations to establish whether the men had contravened the country’s Regulation of Foreign Military Assistant Act.
If so, they would face further prosecution.
Griebenow said an agreement had been reached with the NPA that the men would not be arrested on their arrival but would appear in court on a date yet to be determined.
The men were arrested at the Harare International airport last year allegedly on their way to topple the government of Equatorial Guinea.
Zimbabwean authorities said the group landed to refuel and illegally pick up military equipment that was to be used in the coup plot. The men said the equipment found in their possession was to be used to guard mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
They were, nonetheless, convicted of breaching Zimbabwe’s aviation, immigration, firearms and security laws. – Sapa