Overview
- SAPS confirmed an inquiry docket was opened in Sandton and transferred to the Hawks’ Crimes Against the State unit for further investigation.
- The case stems from a complaint by Nkosazana Bongamini Zuma-Mncube, who named Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, Siphokazi Xuma and Blessing Khoza for alleged trafficking, foreign military assistance violations and fraud.
- Zuma-Mncube alleges 17 men were recruited under the guise of bodyguard training in Russia and handed to a mercenary group to fight, with eight of the men being her relatives.
- The Presidency earlier reported distress calls from the men, aged 20–39 and mostly from KwaZulu-Natal, and ordered an inquiry while diplomatic efforts seek their return.
- Authorities say the affected men are yet to be interviewed; Ukraine’s embassy says it has no record of such a group, Russia’s embassy declined comment, and Zuma-Sambudla has not immediately responded as she faces a separate 2021 riots case.