Family turmoil as Jacob Zuma's relative speaks on sons' recruitment to Ukraine

MK Party leader, Jacob Zuma's relative, who lived in Nkandla, has expressed her disappointment with her niece, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, for subjecting her (Zuma's relative) two sons and a grandson to deadly danger by sending them to the war zone in Ukraine under false promises.

The woman, who asked not to be named and was married to Zuma’s late brother, said her children were among 17 of those sent to Russia for security training.

The woman expressed her pain of living with fear that her children might be killed, as, instead of being trained for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) purposes, they ended up being used as mercenaries, fighting on the side of Russia against the Ukrainian army. 

She said that Zuma-Sambudla was the one who allegedly recruited them to go to Russia for security training, which they were told would take six months and thereafter be deployed to the MKP security unit. 

Zuma-Sambudla submitted an affidavit to the party, explaining her role in the matter. 

During a media briefing held at the party’s headquarters in Durban on Friday, it was announced that Zuma-Sambudla had voluntarily resigned from the activities of the MKP, including being an MP, to focus on helping the men return to their families. 

Zuma’s relative said that Zuma-Sambudla's resignation did not matter to her.  

“The only thing I want to hear is that my children are on their way home, and what Duduzile has done does not matter to me as I only want my children back.”

 She said among the 17 men who were taken to Russia were his two sons and a grandson. 

“There were also five others from the side of my mother-in-law, MaMzobe, the former president’s mother.”   

She said that, because of her family ties, Zuma-Sambudla was also her child.

She said the recruitment was suspicious as it was too quick, and within a period of two weeks, the passports were ready. 

She said the men were promised that they were going to be trained in Russia under an intelligence unit.

“They were told that they would be deployed in the MKP. When they left, I only had R2,000 in my bank account, which I transferred to them because I did not want them to go without money.” 

She was not happy with her children leaving for Russia, which she knew was engaged in war with Ukraine. 

“But since they had been unemployed for a long time, we decided that this was an opportunity for them to earn a living, as they had been promised they would go through a six-month training course and thereafter get a break.

“We had hoped that they would spend December with us and go back to continue with the course, which would end in July,” she said.

She kept on saying, “This is making me mad,” and was even heard crying. 

She said she had hoped that the training would take place far away from the war. She said that when there was an earthquake in Russia on July 30, she was concerned that the men might have been killed because her communication with them via WhatsApp was interrupted for days, but she was relieved when they were reconnected.   

“Whenever I send them a WhatsApp message, and there is one tick, I get scared thinking they have been killed. 

“All I know is that they were 19 who left for Russia, but we are now saying they were 17. What happened to the two?” she asked.  

She said her two sons lived in Durban, but they were in Nkandla to attend their brother-in-law’s funeral when they were recruited. 

“The man, who frequented Zuma’s homestead as an MKP activist, told me that he had been sent by Duduzile to recruit young men.

“He even told me that Duduzile was already in Russia, facilitating their arrival and handing them over to their trainers,” she said. 

She said that since her children left, Zuma-Sambudla has stopped communicating with her. 

During the media briefing, the MKP was mum on the divisions within Zuma’s family caused by the circumstances surrounding men stuck in Ukraine. 

This was despite Zuma’s elder daughter, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube, having opened a criminal case against Zuma-Sambudla, Siphokazi Xuma, and Blessing Khoza over this.

Instead, the party announced that Zuma-Sambudla had on Friday voluntarily stepped down from all activities of the party, including being a member of the National Assembly.

MKP national chairperson, Nkosinathi Nhleko, said Zuma-Sambudla's relinquishment of party activities would allow her to focus on helping the families bring back the men. 

Zuma and Zuma-Sambudla also attended the media briefing, but said nothing to the media.

When asked how much this saga has affected the relationship among his family members, Zuma laughed, but MKP head of presidency Magasela Mzobe said the party had not checked who was not communicating with whom in the family. 

Mzobe said Zuma-Sambudla was not forced to resign, but she voluntarily submitted the resignation letter on Friday, which he said was not an admission of guilt. 

When asked why she only resigned after her sister had opened a case against her, Mzobe said: “She could not resign without taking the leadership into confidence.”  

bongani.hans@inl.co.za