The two were arrested by several Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) personnel in the early hours of June 21 and were taken to Harare Central police station where they were interrogated for more than 14 hours. They were denied food and water and were made to sleep on a cold concrete floor without any blankets. They were informed they would be shot unless they confessed to bringing weapons into the country and being part of a plot to assassinate Mugabe.
They appeared briefly in court on June 24 and again on June 25 when they were charged with working in Zimbabwe without a valid work permit. Officials told them that if they did not plead guilty, ‘things will go very badly’. They therefore pleaded guilty and were issued with a fine of approximately 12 billion Zimbabwe dollars. Nkosi and Lekgoe were released on June 26 and returned to South Africa immediately. They have been restricted from any further entry into Zimbabwe. Â
A spokesperson for Pasco denied that the CPOs were working in the country illegally.