December 8, 2025
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla reportedly played a role in recruiting South African men to fight in the Ukraine war due to the shortage of native Russian recruits.
The daughter of a former South African president has been accused of tricking men into fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is one of the almost two dozen children of former President Jacob Zuma. Zuma has already faced a long series of corruption scandals, leading to the 83-year-old’s resignation as leader in 2018. Now, one of his daughters faces her own controversy over her alleged involvement in recruitment for the war in Ukraine.
According to CNN, Zuma-Sambudla reportedly played a role in recruiting African men to fight in the war due to the shortage of native Russian recruits. Given Russia’s own ties to veterans of the African National Congress, a political party initially formed for the liberation and independence of African countries, the recruitment plan targeted these nations, which already had relationships with government officials. Zuma was also a leader of the party before his expulsion in 2024.
The news of Zuma-Sambudla’s unethical recruitment came to light after her elder sister, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube, filed a criminal complaint against her half-sibling. The complaint led to Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation from her role in Parliament, where she led the same political group her father had previously led, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party.
The filing exposed how 17 native South Africans found themselves trapped in Ukraine fighting on behalf of Russia. The complaint detailed how the men traveled to the region on the false promise of a government contract for “bodyguard training.” Instead of government work, however, they soon realized the trip was to become mercenaries for the European nation.
Distress calls back to South Africa made the country aware of the recruitment trick, with further investigation pointing to Zuma-Sambudla’s coordination of the plan. The Democratic Alliance, the second-largest political party in South Africa, has since filed criminal charges against Zuma-Sambudla.
🚨 The DA has filed criminal charges against Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla after revelations that SA men were allegedly lured to Russia under the false promise of ‘bodyguard training’, only to end up on the front lines of the war in Ukraine. We’re taking action to ensure accountability. pic.twitter.com/KxsiD61N3h
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) November 27, 2025
Zuma-Sambudla, however, has stated that she became a victim of the recruitment ruse. According to an affidavit obtained by local news outlet, Daily News, the disgraced leader says a man told her about a “legitimate paramilitary training program.” She claims that after undergoing a month of its training, in which she argues she faced no combat, she enlisted others to join, leading to their current unknown predicament.
“Based on my own experience, I believed that the program was lawful and safe. But I, too, was manipulated and used to create a false impression of legitimacy,” she shared.
However, the ruse sheds light on an alleged greater, and illegal, recruitment pipeline of African nationals to aid Russia. Russian officials have denied knowledge of any military participation by South African citizens.
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