Zuma's daughter quits South African parliament amid war recruitment claims

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JOHANNESBURG - A daughter of South Africa's ex-president Jacob Zuma has resigned from parliament after claims she was involved in recruiting men to join Russian mercenaries in the Ukraine war, her party said Friday.

Police last week said they were investigating allegations that Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, an MP in her father's Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, had lured 17 South African men to Russia "to fight in the Ukrainian war without their knowledge or consent".

The presidency said in early November it had been asked to bring home the 17 men who were allegedly "trapped" in Donbas after being lured there "under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts".

"Comrade Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has tendered her resignation from the National Assembly and all public representative responsibilities with immediate effect," MK party national chairperson Nkosinathi Nhleko said at a press briefing in the coastal city of Durban.

"As far as we know, the resignation has got nothing to do with admission of guilt or the organisation finding her guilty," said another party official, Magasela Mzobe.

"Umkhonto we Sizwe as a party is not involved in the Russian-Ukraine matter affecting these young people," Mzobe said.

Zuma-Sambudla had responded to the accusations in a formal affidavit to the police, the party said.

The allegations against her were made by one of her half-sisters in an affidavit asking for a formal investigation. Police said the case had been handed to a special unit that investigates crimes against the state to determine the charges.

Reports in South African media said the men were allegedly sent to Russia for security training by the opposition MK party, which is headed by Zuma, South Africa's president between 2009 and 2018.

The war that started with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has drawn in mercenaries on both sides, including from several African countries.

Zuma-Sambudla is on trial on separate charges of inciting 2021 riots that left more than 350 people dead, to which she had pleaded not guilty.

Jacob Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail after refusing to testify to a panel probing financial corruption and cronyism under his presidency.

He served only two months before being released for health reasons and his sentence was later commuted by President Cyril Ramaphosa.