Online Reporter
A daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma has resigned from parliament amid allegations that she lured 17 men to fight as mercenaries in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation on Friday comes after police said she was under investigation for her alleged role in luring South Africans to Russia.
The police announcement came after a group of men aged 20 to 39 ended up on the front lines of the conflict in Ukraine.
Zuma-Sambudla had served as a member of parliament since June 2024 for uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), an opposition party created by her father in 2023 following his expulsion from South Africa’s then-governing African National Congress.
“The national officials have accepted comrade Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla’s decision to resign and support her efforts to ensure that these young South Africans are brought back safely to their families,” the MK Party’s national chairperson, Nkosinathi Nhleko, told a news conference.
MK officials said Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation was voluntary and that her departure from the National Assembly and all other public roles was immediately effective.
The MK’s Nhleko also said the party was not involved in luring the men to Russia and that Zuma-Sambudla’s resignation was not an admission of guilt, but added that MK would help support the families of the men stranded in Ukraine. — Al Jazeera
