A daughter of former South African president Jacob Zuma has resigned as an MP after being accused of persuading 17 South African men to fight for Russia in Ukraine by telling them they were travelling to Russia to train as bodyguards for the Zumas’ uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, 43, who has been one of the most visible of Zuma’s children in politics, volunteered to resign and step back from public roles while she cooperates with a police investigation and works to bring the men home, MK chair Nkosinathi Nhleko said at a press conference in Durban.
Magasela Mzobe, another MK official, told reporters the resignation “has got nothing to do with admission of guilt or the organisation finding her guilty,” and said the MK party had not been involved with the group who ended up on the frontline in Ukraine.
On 22 November another sister, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube, filed a police report alleging Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and two others, Siphokazi Xuma and Blessing Khoza, recruited the men, including eight family members. Zuma-Mncube did not suggest a motive in her statement to police.
Zuma-Sambudla filed an affidavit saying she was “a victim of deception, misrepresentation and manipulation” by Khoza and that she believed the recruits were signing up for a legitimate paramilitary training course. Excerpts of her statement published by local media said she went to Russia for a month of training and “experienced only non-combat, controlled activities. I was never exposed to combat, never deployed.” She said she had “shared information innocently” and would not knowingly expose family or others to harm.
South African outlet News24 said it had received videos from three of the men in Ukraine in which they alleged Zuma-Sambudla persuaded them to sign contracts in Russian that they did not understand and said she would spend a year in Russia training with them.
Jacob Zuma, MK party president, attended the press conference but did not speak. The 83-year-old, who was ousted as president in 2018 amid long-running allegations of “state capture” which he denies, founded the MK party in December 2023. The party won 14.6% of the vote in the 2024 national elections. Zuma has multiple wives and more than 20 children; polygamy is recognised in South Africa under customary marriage law.
Police confirmed they were investigating after receiving both affidavits. Zuma-Sambudla did not respond to calls and messages; Khoza and Xuma could not be reached for comment.
On 6 November the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa said it was investigating how the men became trapped in eastern Ukraine and working to bring them home after receiving “distress calls for assistance.” The presidency said the men “were lured to join mercenary forces involved in the Ukraine-Russia war under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts,” and noted South Africans are not permitted to assist or fight for foreign militaries without government authorisation.
Zuma-Sambudla has regularly posted support for Russia and Vladimir Putin online, including a 22 February 2022 post marking the invasion of Ukraine and a later post declaring “I Stand With Russia.” The African National Congress (ANC), which forced Zuma to step down in 2018 and still shapes South Africa’s foreign policy as part of the governing coalition, has historic ties to Russia dating to Soviet support against apartheid and has generally avoided criticising Russia over the invasion, positioning South Africa as a potential neutral mediator.
Separately, Zuma-Sambudla faces trial on charges of inciting violence in social media posts during the deadly 2021 riots that followed her father’s jailing for contempt of court; she has denied those allegations.
