Johannesburg - The four South African police officers kidnapped in Sudan are expected home on Thursday, by the latest Friday, a police spokesperson said.
"We are expecting them later this week, which will be tomorrow, by the latest Friday,"said Major General Nonkululeko Mbatha.
The Presidency announced that they were released on Monday after they were first reported missing by colleagues on April 11.
The two women and two men worked for the United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID), and were finally released in Nertiti, Darfur after intervention by the presidency.
Saiki Kemal, communications officer for UNAMID, says said the four were immediately taken for a medical check-up and were well enough to fly to the capital Khartoum.
"Of course being held in captivity for 16 days can't be nice, but they seem to be good," said Kemal by telephone from north Darfur.
Female officers Ntlogeleng Aucone and Meisie Ramantsi and their colleagues Michael Melanzi and Michael Annett were in the region as police advisers, sent by the South African Police Service.
They don't carry weapons and their tasks include training local police, training in law enforcement, human rights and gender based violence.
"They have an important task in particular with regard to the protection of civilians and internally displaced civilians," explained Kemal.
There was no firm indication as to the motives for the kidnap and, said Kemal, they may not have been specific targets.
There was a problem with criminality in the region they were in - "people who are basically motivated by money and greed".
"Quite often this is a carjacking issue. We suspect it was a case of wrong place, and wrong time."
He said they did not receive a request for ransom.
"One thing that should be made clear is that the UN has not, did not and will not pay ransom."
He added that the incident took place in an area where there are more than 30 to 40 political movements.
"Some are genuine, others are splinter of splinter of splinters - people looking for money, people who have an axe to grind, people trying to have a political pretext. You can't possibly really know."
Agence France Press reported that Ibrahim al-Dukki, of the People's Democratic Struggle Movement told them that they dropped the four off in the Nertiti area of west Darfur, and that no ransom had been paid.
The news agency added that Jibril Bukhari Abbas, the head of the movement said one of its members had carried out the kidnapping but without instructions from the group. It had wanted one billion Sudanese pounds ($400 000) but that this was not "most important".
They wanted most of all to show the international community that security conditions in Darfur did not allow for elections.
The election was the first since the late 80s and was reportedly marred by boycotts by some parties.
It saw President Omar al-Bashir elected. He originally came to be in the post through a coup in the last 1980s. - Sapa