Two South Africans who thought they were to be trained as medical orderlies in the Ukraine have instead been arrested for desertion, after being forced into military training on their arrival in that country and then trying to flee.
Their recruiter, a South African serving in Ukraine’s special forces, claimed the two – Jhovan Mynhardt and Tyrone Slabbert – knew the job’s risks before they left, reports News24.
Their families are working with South Africa’s embassy for assistance and are concerned about allegations that the men may have unintentionally disclosed a military base’s location in the war-torn country.
Mynhardt (32) from Cape Town and Slabbert (32) from Johannesburg had signed contracts to receive training as paramedics but allege they were misled.
Previously, Mynhardt worked for a security company, while Slabbert was a security officer on cruise ships.
According to their families, both men were excited by the opportunity to train as operational paramedics.
Emma Mynhardt, Jhovan’s wife, said her husband was approached unexpectedly by the recruiter’s wife in Cape Town with a proposition to work in Ukraine. They were specifically seeking South African recruits, and Mynhardt and Slabbert, connected through online gaming, quickly made the decision. Mynhardt resigned from his job, while Slabbert, who was between contracts, sought a new challenge.
Sylvia van Wyk, the partner of Slabbert’s father, said there had never been any indication that the men would be handling weapons or involved in any combat.
“They seized the opportunity for medical training on a six-month contract with good pay. Both had to cover their travel costs to Poland and later their train tickets to Lviv, Ukraine.”
When they arrived, a few weeks ago, suspicions were aroused when they were instructed to report for military training.
Unfortunately, by this stage, both had already signed the contracts.
Soon after, the men were ordered into a vehicle and driven for hours to a field base. Distressed, they told their South African recruiter they wished to withdraw, but he offered little assistance.
Days later, the two men arranged a taxi and fled.
Last Monday, en route on a bus to Lviv to catch a train to Poland, they were stopped at a roadblock where police arrested them for allegedly breaching their contract by “deserting”.
The men managed to inform their families of their arrest and shared their location, as well as the contact number of the recruiter. This was the last communication their families received.
While the SA embassy confirmed the arrests, it also told the families the men may have violated South Africa’s legislation, the Prohibition of Mercenary Activities and Regulation of Certain Activities in Country of Armed Conflict Act, by joining a Ukrainian military unit without authorisation.
The recruiter, who is in a senior role within Ukraine’s special forces, maintains the men were fully aware of their commitments.
The families dispute his version of events. Van Wyk said Slabbert, after six years of working on ships, had wanted to expand his skills into the medical field to help others.
Location ‘given away’
The situation worsened when the field base was attacked shortly after the two South Africans left. It is suspected that their decision to call a taxi to the secret base alerted adversaries to its location.
The recruiter, who was questioned for hours about his role in their recruitment, claimed the men were now “safe”.
“The police handed them over to the military for further handling. The recruiter promised one of their commanders would contact us, but we haven’t heard anything yet,” said Mynhardt.
Attempts by the families to get answers from the Ukrainian embassy in Pretoria have been unsuccessful, and the embassy has not responded to media inquiries either.
The medical and fire support unit that Mynhardt and Slabbert joined, called Med Team Alpha, operates under Ukraine’s International Legion of Defence, and primarily focuses on operations in the Zaporizhzhia district, a contested region featuring Europe’s largest nuclear power station, now under Russian control.
Med Team Alpha conducts medical evacuations but is also equipped to provide rocket fire and other weapon support. The unit relies on global donations to fund its activities and recruits both medically qualified individuals and ex-soldiers.
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