News24 | Conned into combat: Families say unwilling soldiers were lured to Russia in MK Party’s name

• Family members of the unwilling soldiers in Ukraine allege the MK Party is trying to cover up its involvement in the men’s predicament.
• Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla resigned as an MP for the party on Friday.
• The families received alarming voice notes, revealing that the men were being taken away by truck and allegedly taken to 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.

Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation on Friday was announced at a dramatic press conference in which she put on a brave face while her father, party leader Jacob Zuma, sat stone-faced on stage.

It was announced that Zuma-Sambudla had resigned to dedicate her efforts to bringing home the men, six of whom told News24 that she lured them to Russia and then helped convince them to sign contracts written in Russian that compelled them to fight in Russia’s war effort.

The men have been placed on the frontline in Ukraine’s Donbas region near the war-torn city of Donetsk.

One family member told News24 yesterday: “It’s very shocking and I think it’s pretty obvious they’re trying to do damage control and also to protect Jacob Zuma. If they were not involved and they don’t know anything, why is she resigning?”

READ | MKP says Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation not admission of guilt, denies Ukraine war recruitment

Zuma wrote a letter in September, on an MKP letterhead, addressed to Russia’s defence minister, Andrey Belousov, begging him to have the men moved to a safer location. Diplomatic efforts to have the men returned have also come to nought.

Last weekend, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube laid a complaint of human trafficking against her half sister, Zuma-Sambudla, for her role in the men’s predicament.

During the week, Zuma-Sambudla laid a charge of fraud against Blessing Khoza, the man she holds responsible for the men fighting in the war.

The men were sent to the front after going to Russia for what they believed to be training to work as party bodyguards. The contracts they signed are valid for a year.

At Friday’s briefing, Magasela Mzobe, the head of MKP’s presidency, said: “The MK Party was never involved in the matter of these South Africans going to Ukraine. Factually, the MK Party was never involved, and in the affidavit that Comrade Dudu made with police, she nowhere claims that the MK Party was involved.”

Zuma-Sambudla remained silent throughout proceedings.

Mzobe explained that legal advisors had told her not to address the media directly.

The party also said the matter should not be “politicised”.

READ MORE | Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla resigns as MK Party MP amid Russian war recruitment scandal

However, a family member of one of the men said: “There is so much proof, including banking accounts and letters that were written by the MKP. In these letters, they used MKP letterheads. [Zuma] himself, when he wrote the letter to Russia, he wrote it under [the] MKP so it’s shocking now how they [say they are] not involved.

“Even the communication that Duduzile was using to the men, she was using MKP letterheads. Everything was done through MKP. We are very disappointed as the families. I think more so disappointed because we thought they will mention how they are going to be involved in helping to release the men...

They added:

Another family member of one of the men said: “I can’t even sleep at night now because of this thing with my brother. I take pills. I communicate with him daily and he does tell me that the situation is bad, they don’t have water to drink and it’s been seven days without bathing. It’s sad. I don’t even want to talk about this thing anymore.

“So, this briefing just made me angry because it’s clear that they are protecting [Duduzile]. They don’t let her answer questions... We as families need all the help we can get and they are not saying anything about it. She was supposed to stand up, tell the families how they are going to bring back our family members, not this cover-up they are doing.”

The family member said when the men left in July, their passports were ready in “just three days”.

“Right now, they are protecting themselves and by the look of things, we wonder if they will even come back. And if they do, how many will come back alive? My heart is really sore because [Zuma-Sambudla] doesn’t understand the hardship and pain she put us through.”

Meanwhile, there have been renewed fears for the men after their families received a series of alarming voice notes from them this week.

One reluctant soldier said:

Two of the men said they had been separated from the rest of the group and transported to an unknown location. They pleaded for help.

“Dear elders, we are leaving. There are about 50 of us in this truck. We don’t know a lot of these people.

“There are a lot of clothes. We don’t know where we are going. We are not sure where we are going; it feels like we are going to war,” one said.

Another said: “Please, parents. Please, parents. Please help us, parents. We are leaving now; they are about to take us. Please help us in any way possible. Please, parents.”

A relative of one of the men told News24 that the week had been a “long, emotionally draining” one for the families.

“It is currently snowing in Ukraine, temperatures have dropped into the minus, and most of the men are not used to those conditions, and they are out in the bush. We are very worried about their health. Most of them are already complaining of flu symptoms and their bodies stiffening up,” the relative said.

Another said: “We are extremely disappointed in the counter case that Duduzile opened and not taking responsibility and shifting the blame to someone else. We feel like the process is taking very long in terms of them being taken out from where they are right now.”

The men told News24 that they were recruited by Zuma-Sambudla, Khoza and Siphokazi Xuma-Zuma and were told that the bodyguard training programme they were signing up for would set them up to return to work as bodyguards for the MK Party.

Zuma-Sambudla allegedly promised the men that she would join them in Russia for a year, undergo the same military training and experience the same hardships, including sleeping in the mountains armed with guns and grenades.

ALSO READ | ‘We were sold’: Zuma relative trapped on Ukraine frontline pleads for help

After the men were sent to the front, Zuma-Sambudla, whom they “knew and trusted”, returned to South Africa with Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Andile, and two other men.

Earlier this week, News24 also interviewed family members of two young men from Botswana, aged 19 and 20, who were lured to Russia with the South Africans by promises of an education. Their families last heard from them in August, when they were informed that the teenagers were being sent on a combat mission.

The mother of the 19-year-old Botswana teenager, who knew Zuma-Sambudla as “Auntie Dudu”, told News24 she was beside herself with worry.

A note she received on 14 November from a South African member of the group was the last word she had received about him.

In the note, the teen wrote: “We are being taken away. I guess I’ll see you on the other side.”

News24 has made multiple attempts to obtain comment from Zuma-Sambudla without success.

- Additional reporting by Anelisa Kubheka