The convicted murderers had been released pending their appeal but vanished.

Elaine van Heerden, widow of Willem van Heerden, was pleased on learning that police were searching for the three men who killed her husband, then 73, in 2000.

She had earlier expressed concern over the “release” of her husband’s killers, saying until they were back in jail she would not feel safe.

Her husband, a farmer at Low’s Creek in Mpumalanga, was ambushed near Nelspruit and sprayed with a hail of bullets .

After the murder, former counterintelligence unit member Dean van Coller, Moses Mboshane and Lucky Nkosi, were arrested and found guilty of murder. They were each sentenced to 18 years in jail but were released pending their appeal against the sentences. Their appeal was dismissed four years ago, but they are all still at large.

Police said this week that there was “no way” they could arrest the killers because warrants for their arrest had not been issued.

But yesterday Justice Department spokesperson Zolile Nqayi said warrants had been issued and a manhunt was under way.

“We are investigating who did not do their work that resulted in this blunder, which saw the killers being free.”