South African ex-leader’s daughter quits Parliament over Russian mercenary allegations

JOHANNESBURG (AP) – A daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma has resigned as a lawmaker, her party said Friday, after coming under police investigation for allegedly tricking 17 men into joining a Russian mercenary group fighting in the Ukraine war.

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla had served as a lawmaker since June 2024 for the MK Party, an opposition party led by her father. Jacob Zuma created the party in 2023 following his expulsion from South Africa’s then-ruling African National Congress.

Police say they are investigating any role Zuma-Sambudla played in luring the South Africans to Russia after they ended up on the front lines of the conflict in Ukraine.

The South African government said early this month it had received distress calls from 17 South African men, aged 20 to 39, who said they were trapped in Ukraine’s war-torn eastern Donbas region. When they left South Africa, they thought they were going to take up lucrative employment contracts, the government said.

According to police, an affidavit submitted by Zuma-Sambudla’s half-sister, Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube, alleged that Zuma-Sambudla and two other people tricked the South Africans into fighting in the war by promising to provide them with security training in Russia. The identities of the other two people were unclear.

The affidavit alleges the South Africans were handed over to a Russian mercenary group and forced to fight in the war. It also says that eight of the 17 men were members of Zuma-Sambudla’s and Zuma-Mncube’s extended family.

The South African foreign ministry and police are working with international law enforcement organizations to bring the men home, according to the parliamentary committee on foreign relations.

Nkosinathi Nhleko, the national chairman of the MK party, announced Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation during a press briefing on Friday. He said that Zuma-Sambudla had provided party officials with a report regarding the alleged involvement of young South Africans in military operations in Ukraine.

However, he did not disclose any details, citing the “sensitivity” of the situation. He also denied the party had any involvement in sending the South Africans to Russia. He said the party would engage with the men’s families and “support them in their efforts for the return of these young people.”

Zuma-Sambudla is currently on trial on unrelated charges relating to deadly anti-government riots in South Africa in 2021. She has pleaded not guilty to inciting violence through social media posts.