In a saga that has gripped South Africa and echoed across international headlines, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, has resigned from Parliament amid explosive allegations that she played a role in luring 17 South African men into fighting for Russia in the Ukraine war. The unfolding drama is not only a story of international intrigue and exploitation but also a family feud that has spilled into the political arena, leaving a nation searching for answers and 17 families desperate for the safe return of their loved ones.
According to multiple reports, including those by AP, NPR, and South African government sources, Zuma-Sambudla tendered her resignation with immediate effect on November 28, 2025. She had only entered Parliament in June 2024, representing the MK Party—a political movement founded by her father in 2023. Her abrupt departure came as police and international law enforcement agencies began investigating claims that she was involved in deceiving a group of South African men, aged 20 to 39, into traveling to Russia and ultimately finding themselves on the frontlines in Ukraine’s war-ravaged Donbas region.
The saga began earlier in November 2025, when South African authorities received distress calls from the men, who believed they had left home for lucrative jobs and security training in Russia. Instead, they found themselves swept up in the chaos of the Ukraine conflict. Voice notes sent by the men from Donbas, heard by NPR, revealed their desperation as they pleaded for help while being transported with military equipment toward the front lines. “He’s in a truck with 50 strangers packed with military equipment, and he thinks they’re being taken to the front line,” reported NPR’s Kate Bartlett, describing the harrowing messages sent back to South Africa.
The case took on a Shakespearean twist when an affidavit was filed by Zuma-Sambudla’s half-sister, Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube. In the affidavit, Nkosazana alleges that Duduzile and two unidentified individuals promised the men security training in Russia but instead handed them over to a Russian mercenary group. The document further reveals that eight of the 17 men are members of the extended Zuma family, adding a deeply personal dimension to the crisis.
South Africa’s government, under mounting pressure, has scrambled to orchestrate a rescue. Vincent Magwenya, spokesman for the South African president, condemned the exploitation of vulnerable young people by foreign military entities: “The president and the South African government strongly condemn the exploitation of young, vulnerable people by individuals working with foreign military entities,” Magwenya stated, according to NPR.
The story of these men is, unfortunately, not unique. Defense analyst Darren Olivier told NPR that there is growing evidence of African citizens being recruited—sometimes under false pretenses, sometimes knowingly—to fight in the Russian army. “This is being done primarily through a network of brokers and recruiters who receive bonuses for each person that they find, and it’s a lot easier to convince somebody who’s living in the developing world,” Olivier explained. Some families of the trapped men have said they were offered large sums of money to entice them into making the journey.
The international community has taken note. Ukraine’s ambassador to South Africa, Olexander Scherba, urged the men to surrender, emphasizing that no amount of money could justify participating in such a war. “I just want to tell African nationals, it’s not a war. Even if there is some money, it won’t make anyone proud,” Scherba said. Meanwhile, attempts by NPR to secure comment from the Russian embassy in South Africa went unanswered.
Within South Africa, the political fallout has been swift and dramatic. MK Party national chairman Nkosinathi Nhleko announced Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation at a press conference, confirming she had submitted a report to party leaders regarding the matter. He emphasized the sensitivity of the issue and stated that the party had no role in sending the men to Russia. Nhleko also promised that the MK Party would reach out to the affected families, vowing to “support them in their efforts for the return of these young people.”
Magasela Mzobe, MK Party head of Presidency, was quick to clarify that Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation should not be seen as an admission of guilt. “It’s her as a disciplined member… realizing that there is this question the country needs to resolve of returning those young people safely home,” he told reporters, stressing her desire to cooperate fully with authorities. Indeed, Nhleko confirmed, “Comrade Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has declared her full cooperation with the ongoing investigations by relevant authorities.”
For her part, Zuma-Sambudla has maintained that she, too, was misled. She claimed to have believed the men were traveling for bodyguard training, not to be conscripted into a foreign conflict. As NPR reported, the dispute between the half-sisters—both daughters of one of South Africa’s most powerful political dynasties—has added an extra layer of complexity and public fascination to the case.
The controversy is not Zuma-Sambudla’s first brush with legal trouble. She is already facing a separate trial on charges related to inciting violence during South Africa’s deadly 2021 unrest, to which she has pleaded not guilty. This latest scandal, however, has amplified calls for accountability and transparency—not just for Zuma-Sambudla, but for all those who may have profited from the trafficking of vulnerable young men into the world’s deadliest conflict zones.
International law enforcement agencies, South Africa’s foreign ministry, and local police are now working together in a desperate attempt to evacuate the stranded group. Parliament’s foreign relations committee has also been briefed, and the effort has become a matter of national urgency. The stakes could not be higher: two of the men are already believed to have been killed, and the fate of the others remains uncertain.
The broader context is sobering. Many African nations, some of which maintain historic ties to Russia dating back to the Cold War, have assumed an officially neutral stance on the Ukraine invasion. Yet, as more stories emerge of young Africans lured or trafficked into distant wars, governments are stepping up warnings to their citizens about the dangers of recruitment scams. The risk is not just financial or legal, but existential—young men can find themselves dying in a war that has nothing to do with their own country or future.
As South Africa’s government and families continue their efforts to bring the men home, the case of Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla stands as a stark reminder of how personal ambition, political rivalry, and international conflict can converge in the most tragic of ways. For the families awaiting news from Donbas, the search for answers—and for their sons—remains heartbreakingly unfinished.
