The daughter of a former South African president, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, has suddenly resigned from her job in parliament. She left after people accused her of helping seventeen South African men go to Ukraine to fight with the Russian army.
Zuma-Sambudla is a member of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) opposition party. The party's leaders say she resigned voluntarily. They explained that she now wants to focus on bringing the men home from the war zone in Ukraine. The party insists that her resignation is not an admission of guilt. They also say the party itself was not involved in the plan.
The problem began when Zuma-Sambudla's half-sister reported her to the police. The report says that the men were tricked. They were told they were going to Russia for security training for the MK party. However, when they arrived, they were forced to become soldiers.
Zuma-Sambudla says she is also a victim. She claims that a man named Blessing Khoza lied to her too. She says she believed the training program was real and even went to Russia herself for a month for non-military activities.
Meanwhile, one of the men stuck in Ukraine described the terrible and frightening situation there. His brother, who is trying to get him home, says the politician's resignation is just a trick to protect her father's political party.
The South African police are now investigating the case for human trafficking and fraud. The families of the seventeen men are waiting anxiously for news and for their relatives to come home.