by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
December 8, 2025
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla reportedly performed a task in recruiting South African males to struggle within the Ukraine battle because of the scarcity of native Russian recruits.
The daughter of a former South African president has been accused of tricking males into preventing for Russia in its battle towards Ukraine.
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is without doubt one of the nearly two dozen youngsters of former President Jacob Zuma. Zuma has already confronted a protracted collection of corruption scandals, resulting in the 83-year-old’s resignation as chief in 2018. Now, one in every of his daughters faces her personal controversy over her alleged involvement in recruitment for the battle in Ukraine.
In accordance with CNN, Zuma-Sambudla reportedly performed a task in recruiting African males to struggle within the battle because of the scarcity of native Russian recruits. Given Russia’s personal ties to veterans of the African Nationwide Congress, a political get together initially fashioned for the liberation and independence of African nations, the recruitment plan focused these nations, which already had relationships with authorities officers. Zuma was additionally a frontrunner of the get together earlier than his expulsion in 2024.
The information of Zuma-Sambudla’s unethical recruitment got here to mild after her elder sister, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube, filed a felony grievance towards her half-sibling. The grievance led to Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation from her position in Parliament, the place she led the identical political group her father had beforehand led, the uMkhonto weSizwe Celebration.
The submitting uncovered how 17 native South Africans discovered themselves trapped in Ukraine preventing on behalf of Russia. The grievance detailed how the boys traveled to the area on the false promise of a authorities contract for “bodyguard coaching.” As a substitute of presidency work, nevertheless, they quickly realized the journey was to turn out to be mercenaries for the European nation.
Misery calls again to South Africa made the nation conscious of the recruitment trick, with additional investigation pointing to Zuma-Sambudla’s coordination of the plan. The Democratic Alliance, the second-largest political get together in South Africa, has since filed felony expenses towards Zuma-Sambudla.
🚨 The DA has filed felony expenses towards Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla after revelations that SA males had been allegedly lured to Russia beneath the false promise of ‘bodyguard coaching’, solely to finish up on the entrance traces of the battle in Ukraine. We’re taking motion to make sure accountability. pic.twitter.com/KxsiD61N3h
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) November 27, 2025
Zuma-Sambudla, nevertheless, has said that she turned a sufferer of the recruitment ruse. In accordance with an affidavit obtained by native information outlet, Every day Information, the disgraced chief says a person informed her a couple of “legit paramilitary coaching program.” She claims that after present process a month of its coaching, during which she argues she confronted no fight, she enlisted others to affix, resulting in their present unknown predicament.
“Based mostly alone expertise, I believed that this system was lawful and secure. However I, too, was manipulated and used to create a misunderstanding of legitimacy,” she shared.
Nevertheless, the ruse sheds mild on an alleged higher, and unlawful, recruitment pipeline of African nationals to assist Russia. Russian officers have denied data of any navy participation by South African residents.
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