On 8 July 2025, a group of at least 17 young men from South Africa left Johannesburg bound for Russia, offered training as bodyguards for former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party.

But it soon became clear that the training and education they were promised, allegedly by Zuma’s daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, was never going to be. Instead, after signing Russian contracts they did not understand, they discovered they were destined for the frontlines in Russia’s war on Ukraine.

So far, nothing – not President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office, nor a groveling letter from Zuma to Russian defense minister Andrey Belousov – has been able to bring them home.

Zuma-Sambudla faces a police investigation after a complaint of human trafficking was laid against her. She was also forced to resign as an MK Party MP as the party tried to distance itself from involvement in the men's fate.

Seventeen South African men are fighting for their lives on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine after they were sent to Russia by Jacob Zuma’s MK Party for what they believed was training to become party bodyguards.

Two South African men trapped in the war-torn Donbas region of Ukraine, about 10km from the frontline, say they have been forced to operate artillery and camp in a forest while following Russian army orders.

“We are powerless and these guys can do whatever to us,” a man who is part of a group of stranded South African men in Russia wrote as he begged for help in a WhatsApp group from those who sent them, including MK Party president Jacob Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla. 

Former president Jacob Zuma’s daughter, Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube, wants her half-sister, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, to be held criminally liable for allegedly recruiting 18 South African men who are now trapped in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The harrowing reality facing 18 South Africans trapped in Ukraine’s war-torn Donbas for the past five months was revealed on Friday when a loud bang interrupted News24’s telephonic interview with one of the men.

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, allegedly promised the South African men now stranded in Ukraine’s war-torn Donbas region that she would join them in Russia for a year, undergo the same military training and experience similar hardships, including sleeping in the mountains armed with guns and grenades.

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, has filed countercharges against a fellow recruiter she accuses of sending a group of 18 South African men to Russia, where they are now stranded and forced to fight against Ukraine.

The last time a mother from Botswana heard from her 19-year-old son, who was sent to Russia by former president Jacob Zuma’s daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla under the guise of an “educational opportunity”, was three months ago.

The MK Party mounted a strong defence of former MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, who resigned on Friday, categorically denying that she recruited young South Africans to fight in the Ukraine war.

Family members of the 18 men stuck on the frontlines of Russia’s war on Ukraine say the men were recruited in the MK Party’s name - and they believe Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation as a Member of Parliament is a bid to cover up the party’s involvement. 

The Presidency has broken its silence on efforts to return a group of men stranded on the frontlines in Ukraine after being lured into fighting for Russia under false pretenses.

In the last month, two cases have surfaced of South Africans being recruited into the Russian military. At the centre of both are two high-profile women. The first is the MK Party’s Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, who is facing accusations that she conned 18 men into fighting for Russia. The other is SAfm’s Nonkululeko Mantula, who appeared in court with four others on Monday for allegedly recruiting South Africans to join the Russian military. We explain why the two cases are separate, despite sharing similar themes.

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Journalists: Iavan Pijoos and Sakhiseni Nxumalo
Production: Busang Senne
Design: Sharlene Rood
Production Editor: Hanlie Gouws
Assistant Editor: Head of News at News24: Nicki Gules

_{Image credits: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images; Datawrapper.de; Supplied; Virginie Nguyen Hoang/Hans Lucas/Hans Lucas via AFP; Luba Leslie/Gallo Images; Anadolu/Contributor/Getty Images; Sakhiseni Nxumalo/News24; Frennie Shivambu/Gallo Images; Anelisa Kubheka/News24; Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images; Nonkululeko Mantula/Facebook.}