JOHANNESBURG: South African police are investigating claims that a daughter of ex-president Jacob Zuma was involved in recruiting men to join Russian mercenaries in the Ukraine war, they said Sunday.
The allegations against Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, an MP in her father’s MK political party, were made by one of her sisters in an affidavit asking for a formal investigation, police said.
It claims Zuma-Sambudla and two other people were involved in recruiting 17 South Africans whom the presidency said this month it had been asked to be rescued from Ukraine’s war-ravaged Donbas region.
It was alleged the “men were lured to Russia under false pretenses and handed to a Russian mercenary group to fight in the Ukrainian war without their knowledge or consent,” the statement said.
The case had been handed to a special police unit that investigates crimes against the state to determine the charges.
The presidency said in early November it had been asked to bring home the 17 men who were allegedly “trapped” in Donbas after being lured there “under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts.”
The war that started with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has drawn in mercenaries on both sides, including from several African countries.
Reports in South African media said the men were allegedly sent to Russia for security training by the opposition MK party, which is headed by Zuma, the president between 2009 and 2018.
It is illegal for South Africans to join foreign armies unless authorized by the government.
Daughter of S.Africa ex-president accused of recruiting for Russian forces
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Daughter of S.Africa ex-president accused of recruiting for Russian forces
- It is illegal for South Africans to join foreign armies unless authorized by the government
FIFA gives President Donald Trump a peace prize in a departure from its traditional focus on sport
- Trump, who has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Price, had been heavily favored to win the newly created FIFA prize
- “This is your prize, this is your peace prize,” Infantino said
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump was awarded the new FIFA peace prize on Friday at the 2026 World Cup draw — giving the soccer spectacle to set matchups for the quadrennial tournament even more of a Trumpian flair.
Trump, who has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Price, had been heavily favored to win the newly created FIFA prize.
He and FIFA president Gianni Infantino are close allies, and Infantino had made it clear that he thought Trump should have won the Nobel for his efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza.
“This is your prize, this is your peace prize,” Infantino said. He has repeatedly spoken about soccer as a unifier for the world, but the prize is a departure from the federation’s traditional focus on sport.
Trump told reporters upon arriving at the Kennedy Center that he didn’t know whether he was going to get the award, and added: “I don’t need prizes. I just want to save lives.”
FIFA has described the prize as one that rewards “individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world.”
It comes during a week where Trump’s administration has been under scrutiny for lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and as Trump hardens his rhetoric against immigrants.
The Nobel this year was eventually awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who said shortly after receiving the prize that she was dedicating it in part to Trump for “his decisive support of our cause.”
