Family ties could be strained after the eldest daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma accused her half-sister of defrauding 17 men, half of them said to be relatives, who were sent to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
The controversy highlights the increasing recruitment of Africans into the Russian military due to Russia’s shortage of recruits, as well as Moscow’s close ties to African National Congress veterans. Zuma previously belonged to a political party that was born as a liberation movement fighting for democratic governance in South Africa.
Zuma, 83, resigned as president in 2018 following a series of corruption scandals and was expelled from his former party in 2024. He received military training in the Soviet Union during the era of apartheid, an institutionalized racial segregation system that separated blacks from whites.
Who is Zuma-Sambudra and what is he accused of?
Duduzile Zuma Sambudla, 43, is one of the former South African leader’s nearly 20 children. She is a strong supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has expressed her admiration for him on social media.
Last week, Zuma-Sambudla resigned from his seat in parliament as head of his father’s Umkhonto Wisizwe party after his half-sister Nkosazana Zuma-Ncube filed criminal charges.
The charges came after the South African government launched an investigation into how 17 of its citizens became trapped in Ukraine’s war-torn Donbas region. The government was alerted to the men’s plight after they sent out a distress call asking them to return home.
Last month, authorities revealed that the men were “luted to join mercenary units involved in the Ukraine-Russia war under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts.”
Zuma Mancube claimed that the actions of Zuma Sambudra and two other individuals influenced the men’s situation. Zuma Sambudra has not publicly responded to the accusations.
Under South African law, it is illegal to serve in a foreign military without government approval.
South Africa’s second-largest political party, the Democratic Alliance, also filed criminal charges against Zuma Sambudla after consulting with the trapped man’s family.
Prosecutors said Zuma Sambudra, whose father was jailed for contempt of court in 2021, already faces separate charges of inciting terrorism and inciting public violence for allegedly inciting violence on social media during riots that left more than 300 people dead. Zuma was released in 2023. Zuma Sambudra has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson for Defense and Veterans Affairs MP Chris Hattingh shared his findings with state broadcaster SABC.
“I have been in touch with the families and they all have the exact same story,” he said, explaining that the men were “totally misled” and “directed to Russia for self-improvement” under the guise of “security training”.
When they arrived in Russia, Mr. Hattingh continued: “Their clothes and passports were burned, their mobile phones were gradually confiscated, and they were eventually unable to contact them.”
In his defense, Zuma-Sambudla said he had no intention of recruiting South Africans as mercenaries in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In an affidavit filed with police and seen by local newspaper the Daily News, she said she was misled by a person named “Khoza” who contacted her on WhatsApp and claimed to be a South African national living in Russia involved in a “legitimate paramilitary training program” that did not involve combat.
According to the newspaper, Zuma Sambudra enlisted and participated in a month-long militia training in Russia, but revealed that he was not exposed to any combat situation. She then encouraged 22 other people, including relatives, to enroll in the program. Of the 22 people who originally traveled, 17 South Africans are now reportedly in North Donetsk as part of the Russian military.
“Based on my own experience, I believed this program to be legal and safe. However, I too was manipulated and used to create a false impression of legitimacy,” she was quoted as saying.
Mr Zuma-Sambudra reportedly promised to fully cooperate with authorities.
South African police said they were investigating “whether criminal activities such as human trafficking, illegal recruitment, exploitation or fraud may have been involved in the movement of these people into conflict zones.”
CNN has contacted Russia’s military and foreign ministry for comment. But in November, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press conference that Russia had no information about South African nationals and had not yet received any communication from the South African government on the matter.
“If we receive a request of this kind from Pretoria, we are ready to consider it in accordance with existing procedures and in the spirit of the strategic partnership relationship that exists between Russia and South Africa,” she said.
Russian authorities have previously denied putting pressure on foreigners to join the military.
According to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha, more than 1,400 nationals from 36 African countries are fighting for Russia in Ukraine. “Most of them are immediately sent to so-called ‘meat raids’ where they are quickly killed,” he said last month.
Current information on Russia’s human losses is limited, but Western intelligence estimates that the Kremlin has suffered more than 1 million casualties since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including more than 250,000 deaths.
The British Ministry of Defense estimates that around 1,000 Russian soldiers are killed or injured every day.
Recent events in South Africa mirror the controversy in Kenya, where authorities are working to secure the release of more than 200 nationals caught up in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that recruitment networks remain active in the East African country. Last week, local newspaper The Star reported that a Kenyan man was killed while fighting for Russia in Ukraine, just a month after arriving for a driving job.
Analysts suggest that recruiting African mercenaries to strengthen Russia’s military operations in Ukraine involves not only the Kremlin but also recruiters on social media, who often mislead potential candidates about the nature of the job. Those who reveal the nature of their work advertise attractive offers such as expedited visas, salaries of up to $2,500 per month, and free medical expenses.
“Scammers take advantage of the first invitation, often using Telegram or Facebook ads asking for ‘jobs’ in Russia,” said Paul Mudau, a senior lecturer in public law, constitutional law and international law at the University of South Africa.
But he told CNN: “When recruits arrive, Russian authorities detain them, force them to sign contracts in Russian, and deploy them with minimal training.”
