A daughter of South Africa’s former president, Jacob Zuma, on Friday resigned as a lawmaker after explosive allegations that she tricked 17 South African men into joining a Russian mercenary group to fight in Ukraine.

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, who joined parliament in 2024 under her father’s opposition uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, is officially under a police investigation, but she denies allegations of involvement.

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South African police revealed early last week that the investigations into Zuma-Sambudla’s role in the case were prompted after her half sister, Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube, filed an affidavit accusing the politician of trafficking South African men into fighting on the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine war with promises of lucrative job offers.

The scandal has exposed deep rifts in the prominent Zuma family. Like her father, whose administration was racked with corruption scandals, Zuma-Sambudla is a controversial figure in South African politics. Earlier, in November, Zuma-Sambudla appeared in court over a separate case where she is accused of having helped incite the  2021 riots that left more than 350 people dead.

Here’s what we know about the latest scandal involving the Zumas:

What happened?

South African police revealed on November 24 that Zuma-Sambudla, 43, was being investigated in connection with the forced recruitment of 17 South African men into a Russian mercenary group. The investigations came after Zuma-Mncube filed an affidavit against her sister. Zuma-Mncube claims to be the former president’s eldest daughter of at least 20 children from six wives. The current state of the relationship between the sisters is unclear.

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Zuma-McNube’s affidavit, filed on November 22, alleged that Zuma-Sambudla, alongside two others, lured the 17 men to Russia on claims that they would receive yearlong security training and then return to South Africa. But the men were handed over to a Russian mercenary group and were sent to fight in Russia’s war on Ukraine instead, the affidavit continued. At least eight of the 17 men were members of the Zuma family, it added.

The affidavit listed the other two accused as Siphokazi Xuma and Blessing Khoza.

In a statement last week, Zuma-Mcnube said the three individuals had violated several South African laws relating to trafficking, providing foreign military assistance without government consent, and fraud.

“Driven by my moral obligation, I have opened a criminal case at the Sandton Police Station,” Zuma-Mcnube said, urging that the South African government should “expedite all diplomatic efforts to secure the immediate and safe return of our citizens”.

A father of three told The New York Times he received a phone call in July from someone who identified themself as Zuma-Sambudla to join a yearlong training program in Russia after which he would have a job working in security for the MK party. The man said six weeks after arriving in Russia, his trainers surprisingly gave him military fatigues, and he was sent to the front lines of the war in Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Another South African man who said he was on the front lines in Ukraine told the BBC that Zuma-Sambudla and other recruiters had bought him tickets to travel from South Africa.

South African officials said earlier on November 6 that they received distress signals from 17 South Africans aged between 20 and 39, who were asking to be removed from the front lines in Ukraine. Sixteen of the men were from the KwaZulu-Natal province, Zuma’s home region, while one was from the Eastern Cape. President Cyril Ramaphosa directed the police to investigate the case.

Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg last week, Foreign Minister Richard Lamola said South Africa was talking to Russian and Ukrainian authorities to repatriate the trapped men.

“The police must investigate and whoever is involved in this must be arrested,” Lamola said, adding: “It is not an easy situation because they are [on] the front lines of this battle, but we are hopeful that there will be breakthroughs.”

Who are the five people who have been charged?

Five people have been charged this week in relation to the alleged recruitment of men for the Russian military, according to South African police. Authorities said they responded to a tip-off as the group of five tried to leave the country on a flight from OR Tambo International Airport to Russia via the UAE. South African police say they are not yet treating this case as linked to the allegations against Zuma-Sambudla.

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Among the five accused is prominent radio host Nonkululeko Patricia Mantula, 39, who works with the country’s public broadcaster, SAFM. The other four were men aged between 21 and 46, officials said, and Mantula was “facilitating the travel and recruitment” of the men into Russia, the police said.

All now face charges of violating a South African law banning foreign military assistance. A court set their next appearance on December 8 for a bail application.

What does South African law say about foreign wars?

It is a crime to serve in a foreign military without permission from the country’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee, according to South Africa’s 1998 Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act. 

Authorisations may be denied if the requests are found to conflict with South Africa’s obligations under international law or if they will result in the infringement of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the territory in which the foreign military assistance is to be rendered.

The same act also bans mercenary activities entirely. South African residents or citizens are explicitly forbidden from recruiting, training, financing, or participating in mercenary activities.

Violating the law could attract a heavy fine, imprisonment, or both.

South Africa’s constitution also prohibits trafficking. It prohibits forced labour, as does the 1997 Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

Police authorities have not officially charged Zuma-Sambudla with a crime. Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe told The Associated Press news agency that any police charges “are still to be determined through a thorough investigation”.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, South Africa analyst Sanusha Naidu said the case was not likely to affect Russia-South Africa relations, which have become stronger in recent years under President Cyril Ramaphosa. Both countries are part of the BRICS and G20, both informal economic groupings of emerging powers often seen as an alternative to exclusive Western groups like the G7.

“I don’t think that the relationship is going to be any different now than in the past just because you have mercenaries who have been recruited by one person linked to the MK party,” she said. “[The recruitments] contravene our internal legislations, so it’s not going to shift the relations from where it is now.”

In October 2024, an AP investigation found that young African women were being lured to work at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia’s Tatarstan region, where some helped produce military grade drones. Several African governments – including South Africa in August – have issued warnings to women, asking them to be cautious of foreign work schemes.

Kenyan authorities, in September, said they rescued more than 20 people from a suspected trafficking ring that had intended to lure them to fight in the Ukraine war with promises of jobs in Russia. Officials said some 200 Kenyans are already fighting for Russia.

What has Zuma-Sambudla said?

In a statement submitted to police authorities last Monday, Zuma-Sambudla claimed she herself was a “victim” of the scheme, alleging that she had been deceived by a person called Blessing Rhulani Khoza, who she said contacted her on WhatsApp with promises of lucrative security contracts in Russia. The politician said she travelled to Russia on her own and was exposed to “non-combat, controlled activities” which convinced her of the legitimacy of the scheme.

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“Prior to this unsolicited message, I had no relationship, acquaintance, or prior knowledge of this person whatsoever,” she wrote. Zuma-Sambudla claimed she again flew to Russia after hearing the men, including her family members, were sent to battle, and that she filed appeals with Russian officials and the South African embassy there.

“I shared information innocently. They chose to join on their voluntary interest,” she added. “I would not, under any circumstances, knowingly expose my own family or any other person to harm.”

Zuma-Sambudla had served as a parliament member for the MK party since June 2024. Her father founded the opposition party after he was dramatically expelled from the then-ruling African National Congress (ANC) on allegations of misconduct. Zuma and President Ramaphosa, once close allies, have been bitter political rivals in recent years, and the MK is currently the largest opposition party in parliament.

On Friday, MK party President Magasela Mzobe said at a media briefing that Zuma-Sambudla had resigned “to focus on helping families to return to loved ones”. Her resignation, Mzobe added, was not an “admission of guilt” or the result of the organisation finding her guilty of any wrongdoing.

Former President Zuma has not commented on the case.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance party, a former opposition party that joined the ruling coalition alongside the ANC since 2024, sued Zuma-Sambudla last Thursday, on charges of human trafficking and recruitment for mercenary activities.

The DA – which has long been against South Africa’s closeness with Moscow amid Russia’s war on Ukraine – alleged it had access to messages from a WhatsApp group chat “administered” by Zuma-Sambudla, and claimed the Ramaphosa presidency and Zuma knew about the recruitments.

The chats “show clear coordination in luring at least 22 men to Russia under the guise of ‘personal development’, ‘security training’, and even promises of Russian or Canadian citizenship”, the party said.

The men’s passports were confiscated, their clothes burned, and their communication with families cut off once in Russia, the DA said. Three men who had well-placed family connections were returned to South Africa, the party added.