Johannesburg/Harare - A Zimbabwean court sentenced three South Africans to jail terms of between six and seven-and-a-half months after they were found in possession of "illegal transmitting equipment" belonging to the Sky television channel, Sky said Tuesday.

Bernet Hasani Sono, Resemate Chauke and Simon Musimani were sentenced to six months in prison in the Magistrates' Court of Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayo on Monday, Sky News producer Dan Williams said.

Two of the men received additional six week terms for immigration offences, he added.

"We deplore the harsh sentence given to the three South African drivers. We will be appealing and we will put our trust in the Zimbabwe justice system," Sky said in a statement.

The three were arrested at a roadblock near the southern town of Gwanda over a week ago and charged with "being in possession of equipment believed to be used for broadcasting without a licence," their lawyer said last week.

On their arrest they told police they had been asked to collect the equipment from Bulawayo and return it to South Africa.

They hadn't known what was in the boxes, which included deck chairs and cooler boxes, the lawyer said.

Although Sky News did broadcast from Bulawayo after the March 29 elections, the equipment seized was not used, Williams said.

A fourth South African, Craig Eddy, has also been arrested after police discovered the equipment had been stored in a workshop in his factory in Bulawayo.

A severe crackdown on dissenting voices in Zimbabwe is underway in the aftermath of March 29 elections, in which President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party suffered its first ever defeat at the hands of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Mugabe himself also placed second to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the presidential vote.

Several Western journalists accused of covering the election "illegally" have been arrested since the elections. All were released after paying fines for minor offences. (dpa)