Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla Quits Amid Controversial Ukrainian Mercenary Allegations

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, has resigned as a lawmaker following allegations of luring South Africans into joining a Russian mercenary group. The allegations emerge amidst police investigations and involve 17 men reportedly tricked into Ukraine's conflict, seeking lucrative contracts.

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, has resigned as a lawmaker for the opposition MK Party amid police investigations into her alleged involvement in recruiting South Africans for a Russian mercenary group in Ukraine.

Police are probing claims that Zuma-Sambudla misled 17 South African men, aged between 20 and 39, into believing they were signing up for lucrative employment. Instead, they ended up in Ukraine's war-torn Donbas region, allegedly handed over to fight on the front lines by a mercenary group.

Following distress calls from the stranded men, South African authorities and international law enforcement are working to bring them back. Zuma-Sambudla's resignation comes as she faces separate charges related to riots in South Africa in 2021, for which she has denied inciting violence.

(With inputs from agencies.)