The South African Police Service (SAPS) says it is investigating an affidavit from Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube concerning allegations against Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, Siphokasi Xuma and Blessing Khosa.
This relates to 17 South African men who are allegedly trapped in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Mncube claims the men were lured to Russia under false pretences and handed over to a Russian mercenary group to fight in the Ukrainian conflict without their knowledge or consent.
National police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe explained that an enquiry docket has been registered, as the charges are yet to be determined through a thorough investigation. “The enquiry docket will be investigated at provincial level,” she stated.
This follows Zuma-Mncube—the eldest daughter of former president Jacob Zuma and Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma—publicly accusing her sister, Zuma-Sambudla, along with Xuma and Khosa, of playing key roles in luring the group of young South African men to Russia.
In the criminal complaint, Zuma-Mncube alleges that eight of the 17 men are her own relatives and that they did not consent to deployment in a war zone. She further claims the alleged recruitment violated the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act, and common law fraud provisions.
