South Africa Launches Investigation Into Jacob Zuma’s Daughter Over Alleged Recruitment of Mercenaries for Russia

South African authorities announced on Sunday that they will investigate former President Jacob Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, over claims that she helped recruit South Africans to fight on behalf of Russia in Ukraine.

The complaint was lodged by her half-sister, Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube, who urged police to examine Zuma-Sambudla’s alleged involvement. Details remain unclear regarding how 17 South African men came to serve as mercenaries in Ukraine, though reports indicate that the men issued urgent pleas for evacuation in early November, stating that they were operating in the Donbass region.

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, a parliamentarian representing her father’s Umkhonto we Sizwe party, is already facing legal proceedings in South Africa. On November 10, she appeared in court to face charges of incitement linked to terrorism, stemming from the July 2021 riots that claimed over 350 lives.

She is accused of using social media to incite violence before and during the unrest, which marked the deadliest civil disturbances in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. The riots erupted following Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment for defying a court order to testify in an inquiry probing extensive government corruption during his presidential tenure from 2009 to 2018.

Authorities have yet to confirm the scope of Zuma-Sambudla’s alleged role in the recruitment of South Africans to foreign conflicts, but the investigation signals growing concern over domestic connections to international military engagements.

Source: Africa News