A disturbing recruitment operation has entangled Duduzile Zuma, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, in an international scandal. According to Bloomberg sources and WhatsApp messages, she was involved in recruiting young men from South Africa and neighboring Botswana under the pretense of a bodyguard training course for Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party. Instead, the group was flown to Russia, where they were forced to sign military contracts in Russian and were swiftly deployed to the frontlines in Ukraine. Relatives say they have lost contact with the men, and messages show Duduzile Zuma reassuring families they would not see combat, despite evidence to the contrary. This controversy emerges as South Africa’s president launches a probe into how citizens are being recruited as mercenaries for Russia’s war, a crime under South African law.
Bloomberg
