President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa (L) and Beat Tinner (2-R), government president of St. Gallen, talk to an apprentice during their visit to the Vocational and Further Education Center in Uzwil, Switzerland, 30 October 2025. The South African president is on a two-day state visit to Switzerland. EPA/GIAN EHRENZELLER 
The men were lured into fighting under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts, the statement said. All are between the ages of 20 and 39 years and are trapped in Ukraine's war-torn Donbas region, it said.
"President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered an investigation into the circumstances that led to the recruitment of these young men into these seemingly mercenary activities," said the statement.
The statement did not say which side of the conflict the South Africans were fighting for.
Under South African law, it is illegal for citizens to provide military assistance to foreign governments or participate in armies of foreign governments unless authorised by the South African government, it added.
In August, South Africa's government warned young people to be wary of fake job offers in Russia, which were circulating on social media, after reports that some South African women had been tricked into making drones.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning and Wendell Roelf; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Michael Perry)