CAPE TOWN (Reuters) -South African police said on Sunday they will investigate Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, a daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, and two others for their alleged role in luring 17 men to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
The probe follows a formal request from Zuma-Sambudla’s half-sister, Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube, for authorities to look into the matter.
The South African presidency said earlier this month that it would investigate how the men, between the ages of 20 and 39 years, wound up joining mercenary forces after they sent distress calls for help to return home.
“Ms Mncube claims the men were lured to Russia under false pretences and handed to a Russian mercenary group to fight in the Ukrainian war without their knowledge or consent,” police said in a statement.
An enquiry docket has been handed over to the specialised police unit, Hawks, for further investigation, police added.
A legal representative for Zuma-Sambudla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zuma-Sambudla, a senior lawmaker with her father’s uMkhonto we Sizwe party, already faces separate charges linked to public violence during deadly unrest in 2021.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Christina Fincher)
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