Lady linchpin: Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is at the heart of the furore over SA men dispatched to Russia.
Photo: MK Party
The brother of one of the 17 South Africans stuck in the frontline of the Russia-Ukraine war says his sibling was lured there with promises to get trained for a job as a bodyguard of top officials in Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.
The family member, who has been in contact with his brother via phone since he travelled to Russia with 16 others on 8 July, told the Mail & Guardian this week that his sibling had told relatives he expected to get training for a year, building on the experience he had as a bodyguard to several senior politicians and business people.
The men were allegedly told by Zuma’s daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and her associates Siphokazi Xuma and Blessing Khoza that once they returned to South Africa , they would guard some of the senior executives in the MK party.
“What is intriguing is that all those who are there have basic firearm training. They didn’t want people without firearms basics, which is why their training only took a few weeks,” said the family member, who declined to be named for fear this would expose the identity of his brother and put his life at risk.
“My brother does have experience guarding principals, and two of the men there are former bodyguards of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, so these are people who know how to handle a firearm.”
On Sunday, Zuma-Sambudla’s half sister Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube opened a criminal case against her, Xuma and Khoza at the Sandton police station in Johannesburg.
Zuma-Mncube said the three had lured the 17 men to Russia nearly five months ago under false pretences and handed them over to a Russian mercenary group to fight in the Ukraine war without their knowledge or consent.
In a media statement afterwards, Zuma-Mncube said she was related to eight of the 17 men, who are now pleading for help from the South African government.
“I urge the South African government to expedite all diplomatic efforts to secure the immediate and safe return of our citizens. Furthermore, I call on all South Africans to be vigilant and not fall prey to individuals offering too-good-to-be-true opportunities abroad, especially those involving travel to conflict zones.”
The family member said three days after the seventeen men arrived in Russia, they were given contracts written in Russian, which they refused to sign because they did not understand the contents.
He said the men then contacted Zuma-Sambudla, who assured them everything was above board.
“Duduzile then came to Russia with Blessing Khoza and told the guys that there was nothing wrong with the contract and they could go ahead and sign. They signed because they trusted Duduzile — she was the one who recruited them and bought their tickets.”
The family member said the men were trained for about two weeks in communication and shooting. Three days after the training, they were told they would be deployed in combat.
The Russians they met were surprised to hear that the men had believed they were in the country for training as VIP bodyguards.
“They said the men had joined the Russian army to help fight the war between Russia and Ukraine,” the family member told the M&G. “When they asked Zuma-Sambudla what was happening, she allegedly told them it was psychological training and that the Russians were bluffing about combat deployment.”
In WhatsApp messages seen by the M&G in which the men raised concerns about their phones, bank cards, and personal belongings being confiscated, Zuma-Sambudla told them: “It’s fine, there’s no stress. I promise you. Remember they will also test your mentality.”
Responding to the men’s worry that they might be deployed to war, she texted: “I put my life on it… If that happens, I will personally come and fetch you all.”
Messages seen by M&G indicate that some of the men’s families also contacted Xuma, and she reassured them that their relatives were fine. When families demanded the return of the men, Xuma allegedly said they needed to speak to “uBaba” — a reference to Jacob Zuma. The families rejected this suggestion.
The family member told the M&G that when the men told Zuma-Sambudla they were being taken to the frontline where cannons were firing, she dismissed their concerns.
“Some of them had been cleaning the guns of Russian soldiers returning from the war and building bombs. They refused to take part in the war, but the Russians insisted that they had signed a binding contract.”
He said the Russians repeatedly told the men to demand the truth from the people who brought them to Russia. After this, the men asked their families to contact the government for help.
“They were promised they would be paid, but what we have discovered is that R34 million was paid to Duduzile for these people. Basically, we view this as human trafficking because she sold them, and that is why it is now difficult to bring them back,” the family member told the M&G.
“What we are worried about is that in war, you only come back when the war has ended — so we don’t know if they will ever come back alive. The last time I spoke to my brother, he told me he was being deployed to the frontline.”
In a statement earlier this month, the presidency said the South African government had received distress calls for assistance to return home from 17 South African men aged between 20 and 39 years trapped in war-torn Donbas. It said the men were “lured to join mercenary forces involved in the Ukraine-Russia war under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts”.
“Under the Foreign Military Assistance Act of 1998, it is illegal for South African citizens and entities to offer or provide military assistance to foreign governments or participate in armies of foreign governments unless authorised by the South African government,” the presidency added.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered an investigation into the circumstances that led to the recruitment of these young men into these seemingly mercenary activities. The South African government is working through diplomatic channels to secure the return of these young men following their calls for assistance to return home.”
Last week one of the 17 men, Sethembele Ndhlovu, with the assistance of family members, sent a message to a Russian embassy official asking for help to come back home.
In the message forwarded to the M&G via WhatsApp, Ndhlovu said he had been recruited with false promises of training and employment opportunities by Zuma-Sambudla, Xuma and Khoza. He said the men were told this was an MK party training programme where they would be trained as bodyguards, drone operators, and tank drivers.
He said he was currently in the Donbas region with the 16 other South Africans.
“We left South Africa on 8 July 2025. We flew from King Shaka International Airport, with tickets bought for us. We landed in Dubai on 9 July and connected to Moscow, where a Russian soldier fetched us,” read Ndhlovu’s message.
“They took us to Pskov, where we stayed for a few days. They gave us forms to sign, but we refused because they were in Russian, which we don’t understand. After that, Duduzile Zuma arrived with Blessing Khoza and told us to sign the documents.”
“They said it was a training document and we shouldn’t worry. The documents were in Russian. When we asked for translation, they said there was none and that there was no network to translate.”
A Russian embassy official contacted by the M&G via phone and text message had not responded by the time of publishing.
In another message another of the 17 men, Siphesihle Khumalo, said he had been approached by Xuma, who told him about a training programme in Russia involving drones, tanks, skydiving, intelligence, and VIP protection, as well as physical and mental training. A third man, Sfiso Bhengu, told a similar tale.
In a statement this week, Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo confirmed that Zuma-Mncube and Zuma-Sambudla had opened inquiry dockets about the 17 men.
Mbambo said both matters are being jointly investigated to determine whether any criminality — including possible human trafficking, illegal recruitment, exploitation, or fraud — had contributed to the movement of the men to the conflict zone and the Hawks were working closely with the government departments and relevant foreign authorities on a coordinated investigation.
“The DPCI remains in contact with the complainants and family members as part of the investigative process. Updates will be provided where appropriate, without compromising the integrity of the investigation,” Mbambo said.
Once the investigation was completed and all evidence gathered, the docket would be submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority for a decision, she added.
M&G reached out to Zuma-Sambudla for comment but she did not respond to calls or text messages. The M&G was also unable to reach both Xuma and Khoza for comment.
uMkhonto weSizwe spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhela said the party was not involved, adding that the matter was being handled by the Hawks and via diplomatic channels.
“Unless we are approached, then we will engage on the basis of that. We have not been approached.”