Former President’s Daughter Quits Over Russia Recruitment Allegations
Due to accusations that she tricked South Africans into fighting for Russia, the former president's daughter resigned.
In response to claims that she deceived 17 men into serving as mercenaries for Russia in Ukraine, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma resigned as an MP.
In an affidavit, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, who joined the main opposition party uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) as a member of parliament last year, stated that she believed the guys were travelling to Russia for "lawful" training.
MK claims that she decided to step down in order to concentrate her efforts on guaranteeing the repatriation of people who are stranded in the war-torn Donbas region of Ukraine.
One of the men's brothers, who has been writing notes about his predicament in a distressed manner, told the BBC that the family wants him to be held accountable and returned safely.
The 40-year-old stated, "Things you see in the movies, we're seeing it live," in one of his family's communications to the BBC regarding the atrocities they were seeing in Ukraine.
For his protection, the BBC has called him Sipho and his brother Xolani, who is in South Africa attempting to arrange his homecoming.
"He's living in fear because he doesn't know what the future holds or what will happen to him when night approaches because they are always in a war zone," Xolani adds, adding that the family doesn't care about Zuma-Sambudla's resignation because his father currently runs MK.
"She is merely attempting to preserve the standing of her father's political party. The families want the guys who were duped into fighting for Russia to be held accountable and to return.
Sipho claims he was recruited by two people, including Zuma-Sambudla, in voice notes he supplied to the BBC.
In one of the voice notes, Sipho states, "They [the alleged recruiters] even bought us flight tickets to get here [Russia]." Zuma-Sambudla claims she is "profoundly shocked" and has denied purposefully misleading anyone. She also acknowledges that she has been duped and manipulated.
According to Xolani, his brother departed South Africa on July 8th, believing he would receive bodyguard training for MK.
The party has disassociated itself from the dispute.
At a news conference on Friday, MK chairperson Nkosinathi Nhleko stated, "The national officials have accepted comrade Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla's decision to resign and support her efforts to ensure that these young South Africans are brought back safely to their families."
MK was founded in 2023 and takes its name from the now-defunct military wing of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which opposed South Africa's racist apartheid regime.
After a major falling out with his successor, Cyril Ramaphosa, former President Zuma left the ANC to form MK in order to run in the legislative elections last year.
The BBC was informed by the sister of another South African stranded in Donbas that her brother accepted an offer to train as a "bodyguard" and "counter-intelligence" for MK since he was unemployed.
He had no idea that Russian men would be leading him on the battlefield.
"They are treated as slaves, told what to do, and if they don't co-operate they are threatened," she stated to the BBC.
When the group—including his brother—arrived in Russia, Xolani continues, they were given contracts to sign, but "unfortunately" they were written in Russian, which they did not comprehend.
Xolani claims that the group then requested assistance from Zuma-Sambudla and the other purported recruiter.
The group was persuaded to sign the contract because they "trusted them" after the two flew to Russia, according to Xolani.
Sipho claims that he and the others were transported to Ukraine in early August in a voice message to the family that the BBC has listened to. He was one of those who wound up in Donetsk, Donbas, when they were split up.
In the voice message, Sipho states, "[We're] close to the front line, maybe about 10km [six miles] away."
The guys express their discomfort over their movements in the conflict area in a video screen capture from the WhatsApp group that some of them frequent, which was provided to the BBC.
"We were told that we are going to a safe place, but we went even deeper in the bad place," one of the group members wrote. And there were three drone attacks when we got here."
"If anything happens guys..." says another. "Until next time."
A contact named "Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla" is eventually added to the WhatsApp group.
This person encourages the men to "hang in there, we are doing everything we can" in an attempt to calm their anxieties.
This number was contacted by the BBC, but no one answered. After that, we sent the number a WhatsApp message with a picture of Zuma-Sambudla as the profile picture.
After being accused of deceiving South Africans into joining the war by her half-sister, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube, the former MP submitted an affidavit with the police.
The Hawks, South Africa's top police force, confirmed on Tuesday that both women had filed police reports.
A copy of Zuma-Sambudla's affidavit, which was extensively covered by local media but is unsigned, was viewed by the BBC.
"I was not a recruiter, agent, operator or facilitator of any unlawful activity," she claims.
The BBC has also obtained a statement that Zuma-Mncube made to police, claiming that her half-sister and two males she named enticed 17 South Africans to Russia "under false pretences" and that they were "handed to a Russian mercenary group to fight in the Ukraine war without their knowledge or consent".
In the statement, Zuma-Mncube states, "Eight of my family members are among these 17 men, who are requesting the South African government for assistance."
Zuma-Sambudla states in her affidavit that she personally underwent non-combat training in Russia, which was organised by a man she did not know until he got in touch with her.
She claims in the affidavit that she "shared [this] information innocently" with others, including family members, when he suggested enlisting more participants in what she thought would be a similar program.
The MP continues, "I would not, under any circumstances, knowingly expose my own family or any other person to harm," says the affidavit.
She claims it "caused me profound shock and distress" to learn that others had been duped into enlisting in the war.
Zuma-Sambudla continues, "I am myself a victim of deception, misrepresentation, and manipulation," says the affidavit.
The South African government acknowledged earlier this month that it had received distress calls from 17 of its residents who were stranded in the Donbas after being persuaded to enlist in mercenary troops by the prospect of lucrative contracts.
According to one of the voice notes the BBC heard, 24 South Africans were first tricked into travelling to Ukraine, but three of them were returned to Russia because they were judged medically unfit.
Another voicemail claims that one of the South Africans compelled to remain in Ukraine was injured—possibly by shrapnel—and that it is unknown where he is.
Some males were also recruited from adjacent Botswana, according to a report by financial news agency Bloomberg.
Since making a statement earlier this month, the South African government has kept quiet on the subject. Although it had pledged to use "diplomatic channels" to return them home, this has not yet taken place.
Xolani talks about his family's suffering because his brother is still stuck in a combat zone.
He's off performing military work, so we might not hear from him for five days. "The family is worried about his life," he says.
Meanwhile, Sipho repeatedly makes the same plea in voice-note conversations with his family: "It's tough here... we all [just] want to come home."
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