Healthy, thin - and relieved to be home

'We have waited for more than a year for this moment, after so many false promises. Now, finally it's all over and we have seen it through."

These were the emotional words of Marge Pain on Sunday as her husband Ken and 60 other alleged South African mercenaries finally arrived at the Beit Bridge border post in Limpopo.

And the National Prosecuting Authority said on Sunday they were not planning to arrest the men.

The 61, detained in Zimbabwe in March last year on suspicion that they were part of a plot to topple the government of Equatorial Guinea, were deported in trucks under a heavily armed guard from Chikurubi Prison near Harare on Saturday night.

They were released in small groups throughout the day on Sunday.

Officials and police sealed off the border post and evicted family members and the media from the premises early on Sunday in preparation for the arrival of the men.

A special team of senior immigration officials set up a centre to process the men's documentation and kept them away from the usual immigration offices.

The 61 are believed to have been handed over to South African immigration officials at about 6am.

One of them, Francisco Marcus, severely ill with tuberculosis, was taken to Musina Hospital, where he is in a serious but stable condition.

A second, Malini Moyo, a Zimbabwean national travelling on a South African passport, is believed to still be in custody at Chikurubi Prison.

It is not clear when, or if, Moyo is to be released.

The men's lawyer, Alwyn Griebenow, was prevented from seeing his clients and was escorted from the border post by police when he inquired about the progress of the deportation procedure.

"I cannot understand the delays and this is an infringement of my clients' rights," he complained.

The delays were caused by immigration officials checking passports to determine the men's nationality.

"They have had 14 months to establish this... why now, when they are already home?" said a frustrated Griebenow.

Looking healthy but slightly thin, Louis du Preez, Raymond Archer and Pain were the first to be released, at about 10.30am.

Du Preez said he was looking forward to returning to his home in the Eastern Cape and described his experience in Chikurubi as "tough but bearable".

"In other words, it's not a place I would want to return too," he said.

His twin brother, Nico, said the family were relieved that the year-long ordeal had finally ended.

"We must put this behind us now and move on."

Pain, the oldest of the group, asked the media to respect his wish to be alone with his family. "We have not seen each other in a year and have to catch up," he said.

His wife had been waiting at the border since last week, awaiting his release.

"Obviously it's a great relief to have him back. He has thinned quite a lot," she told reporters.

Karen, fiancée of Errol Harris, described her reunion with her husband-to-be as "very emotional".

"He is not sick or anything. He has just lost a lot of weight."

In March, the hopes of the men's families were raised when the Zimbabwean High Court granted a four- month remission of sentence, effectively freeing them.

After a week of being told that their release was pending, hopes were dashed when the Zimbabwean attorney-general lodged an application to appeal against the court's decision, arguing that foreign nationals could not qualify for remission of sentence.

On Tuesday, the process was started all over again, and after five days of rumour and unconfirmed reports, the men were finally free.

On Sunday, Archer left for Johannesburg with his girlfriend immediately after his release, refusing to comment.

It took officials another five hours before the next men were ready to be freed.

By late afternoon all had been released and were being transported by bus to Pretoria.

All the men declined to comment on the allegations of their involvement in the suspected coup plot.

Speaking from Pomfret in the Northern Cape, Everisto Baptista, family member of Adriano Baptista, said the family welcomed news of the release.

"We are excited about having Adriano back home," he said.

Accused of contravening South Africa's Foreign Military Assistance Act, the men could possibly face prosecution in SA.

However, Jan Henning, deputy head of the National Prosecuting Authority, said there were no plans to arrest them.

"Investigations are continuing, but they will not be arrested."

Briton Simon Mann, the suspected mastermind behind the alleged plot, is serving a four-year sentence in Zimbabwe.

The group were arrested at Harare International Airport in March last year when they apparently landed to refuel and pick up military equipment.

Zimbabwean authorities said they were on their way to join alleged mercenaries arrested in Equatorial Guinea at the same time.

The group in Equatorial Guinea, which included several South Africans, were convicted and given long prison sentences for attempting to overthrow the government of Teodoro Obiang Nguema.