Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla says she was not a recruiter but the first victim of a deception led by Blessing Khoza, who allegedly posed as a South African in Russia offering a lawful civilian training programme. She says she shared information in good faith and is now helping investigators.
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has formally denied allegations that she orchestrated a recruitment pipeline sending South Africans into the Russia–Ukraine conflict, insisting in a sworn affidavit that she was deceived, manipulated and ultimately “the first victim” of what she now believes was an elaborate scam.
Her affidavit, filed at the Sandton Police Station on Monday afternoon, challenges the explosive claims made days earlier by her sister, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube. On Saturday, Zuma-Mncube accused the MK Party Member of Parliament and two others of luring 17 men to Russia under the false promise that they would receive bodyguard training for the Mkhonto weSizwe Party, only to be handed over to mercenary forces.
The South African government has since confirmed that it received distress calls from 17 citizens who said they had been misled into joining armed groups in Russia. The men, aged between 20 and 39, told officials they were promised high-paying contracts and civilian training opportunities.
Zuma-Sambudla paints a very different picture. In her account, she describes being “blindsided” by a man she had never heard of: Blessing Rhulani Khoza. She writes that Khoza contacted her out of the blue via WhatsApp, portraying himself as a South African living in Russia with access to what he claimed was a lawful, structured, non-combat paramilitary programme for civilians.
“Prior to this unsolicited message, I had no relationship, acquaintance, or prior knowledge of this person whatsoever,” she states. According to her, Khoza repeatedly insisted the programme was safe and skills-based, with no ties to combat operations.
Believing his assurances, Zuma-Sambudla says she travelled to Russia at her own expense. She spent a month completing what she now describes as superficial physical activities, none of which suggested military engagement. “I was never exposed to combat, never deployed,” she writes, arguing that her own experience reinforced her belief that the programme was legitimate.
When told that additional participants could be accommodated, she shared the information with relatives and close family friends. She maintains that she never recruited anyone and that the individuals who travelled did so voluntarily. “I shared information innocently. They chose to join on their voluntary interest,” she says. Several of those who went, she notes, are her own relatives — a fact she offers as proof that she had no knowledge of any potential danger.
Twenty-two South Africans ultimately travelled to Russia. Three failed the medical assessment and returned home; 19 remained behind.
Zuma-Sambudla says she was horrified when she later learned that the group had allegedly been moved toward a conflict zone. “This discovery caused me profound shock and distress. It was at this point that I realised that both I and the others had been scammed,” she writes.
In an urgent and self-funded attempt to help, she flew back to Russia for two weeks, appealing to Russian officials and seeking assistance from the South African embassy. “My actions were taken urgently, at personal cost, and solely out of concern for the safety of the affected South Africans,” she states.
She ends her affidavit with a categorical rejection of the accusations against her. “I was not a recruiter, agent, operator, or facilitator of any unlawful activity,” she writes. She has provided investigators with her communications, devices and documents for forensic analysis and says she will fully cooperate as the inquiry unfolds.
This is a developing story.
