'Our children were sold': South Africans sent to fight in Russia's wars russia-ukraine war news

Durban, South Africa – When Sipho Dlamini* stepped off the plane from Russia home to the South African port city of Durban last week, he had nothing but the clothes on his back.

“They made us burn everything we had,” the 32-year-old man said. “Clothes, documents, even family photos. From the beginning, it was hell.”

Dlamini is one of more than a dozen South Africans repatriated from Russia, where they say they were lured under false pretenses and pushed to the front lines of the war in Ukraine – mirroring the experience of other African men from countries including Kenya and Zimbabwe.

In November last year, it was revealed that several South Africans aged between 20 and 39 had been sent to Russia for security training. But soon after, he was recruited into a paramilitary group and sent to fight in Ukraine.

At the center of the controversy is Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, who resigned as an MLA in December after being implicated in a recruitment drive and police launching an investigation against her.

The president said last week that many of the recruits from Nkandla, Zumas' home area in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province, returned after reaching out to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for support for current President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Returnees and their families now fear reprisals from recruiters and possible prosecution under South African law, which prohibits civilians from fighting in foreign conflicts. He spoke to Al Jazeera on the condition that his identity be concealed.

“We were told we would be trained as VIP bodyguards,” said Thabo Khumalo*, 28, who told Al Jazeera that Zuma-Sambudla and her stepmother were at the forefront of the recruitment of men.

“Initially, he pretended to go to Russia to pick us up. But later we learned that he had never left South Africa, even though he pretended to be on the front lines in our WhatsApp chat group,” he said. “That's how we ended up in the trenches.”

Thulani Mahlangu, a spokesperson for the returnees' families, says 43-year-old Zuma-Sambudla and her associates were allegedly paid at least 14 million rand (about $845,000) by Russia's Wagner Group to secure the men's services.

“Our children were sold,” one parent said. “They were promised jobs, but instead they were used.”

Juma-Sambudla claimed in a statement handed to police last year that she was a “victim” herself, alleging that she had been duped with promises of lucrative security contracts in Russia.

After the story first broke in the South African media, Zuma‑Sambudla was forced to resign his post in Parliament, where he represented his father's opposition uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party. It was another of Zuma's daughters, Nkosazana Bongani Zuma-Mancube, who opened a case against her half-sister for her role in the alleged recruitment.

In KZN province, people close to the Zumas were also targeted.

A relative of former President Zuma – who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals – told Al Jazeera that two of his sons and two grandsons have been deported to Russia. “We were living in fear,” she said. “We just wanted to get them home alive.”

The MK party has since distanced itself from the scandal, while its efforts to secure the release of former President Zuma's men failed. It was Ramaphosa who ultimately convinced Putin to allow his return home.

a continental campaign

At the beginning of their contracts in Russia, several people told Al Jazeera, they were paid a lump sum of 80,000 rand (about $4,800) — a sum they promptly sent home when they realized the terms of their employment.

“I immediately gave it to my mother,” Khumalo said. “I thought I was going to die right there.”

In Russia, he said, recruits were given military uniforms and weapons and barely a week of basic training.

Khumalo said, “We were cannon fodder. Some of us didn't even know how to fire properly before we were promoted.”

On the front lines, these men were deployed in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region, which has been a primary battlefield of the four-year war.

All the returnees Al Jazeera spoke to said they had witnessed violence and death – as well as the worst treatment of African fighters.

Khumalo said, “African recruits were assigned to perform the most dangerous duties on the front lines.” “Some were forced to pick up the dead and wounded while drones hovered above them… Others were shouted at and racially abused by the Russians. It was sad to see Africans treated like this.”

Khumalo said it was a “heartbreaking” experience, made worse for those who never returned home.

Mandla Zulu*, 44, agreed, saying, “They treated Africans very badly.” “We were racially abused, beaten and sent to the most dangerous areas… We saw our comrades from Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Kenya die in large numbers.”

South Africa's involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war is part of a broader African crisis.

Ukraine's foreign minister said in November that more than 1,400 citizens of 36 African countries had been identified in Russian ranks. According to the report, those who died on the front lines include people from Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa and other countries.

In Ghana, Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced that his country had lost about 50 people and said he would go to Moscow to negotiate the release of captured civilians. Cameroon has reported dozens of deaths, while Zimbabwe and South Africa have also confirmed the deaths of their citizens. Kenya's Principal Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi is preparing a mission to Russia in March to secure the release of Kenyan fighters.

All Eyes on Wagner, a monitoring group, has documented an aggressive Russian recruitment campaign conducted in Africa, detailing how vulnerable men were promised jobs, training, or even passage to Europe – only to be sent to a war zone with minimal preparation.

“Some of our African brothers said they (joined the war) because they were promised they would be smuggled to Western Europe if they fought,” said Zulu, one of the returnees from South Africa. “That was dream fodder.”

All eyes on Wagner also suggest that more South Africans could fight in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Arrests and investigation

After Pretoria opened diplomatic channels with Moscow, the South Africans were repatriated in two separate batches – first four returned, then 11 a week later.

But not all returned home safely: one returned in a wheelchair, while another lost his leg in a drone strike and ended up in Mahlangu, a Russian hospital, a spokesman for the families said.

The government said last week that two South Africans had also died in Russia.

Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesman Crispin Phiri said the government was working with their families to decide whether their remains should be cremated in Russia or brought back for burial at home.

“It's very difficult for us as government officials because we have to be sensitive to what they're going through,” he said.

Upon arriving in Durban last week, the 11 returnees said police took them to a holding area at King Shaka International Airport. There, they were asked to surrender their phones and gadgets so that investigators could gather information before allowing them to leave.

From Durban, they made the long journey to Nkandla – more than 210 km away – to reunite with their families.

“It was a huge relief to finally go home,” Khumalo said. “At some stage, we thought we would never come back.”

South Africa's Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), commonly known as the Hawks, confirmed that 15 people are under investigation. Colonel Katlego Mogale said the investigation focused on violations of the Foreign Military Assistance Regulation Act, a law that prohibits mercenary activity and regulates the provision of military and security services by South Africans abroad.

The Hawks, which investigate organized crime and corruption, also said five other suspects unconnected to the case were arrested in Gauteng province late last year as part of an investigation into the recruitment of South Africans for Russia's war in Ukraine. The group is accused of fraud, trafficking in persons and violating the Foreign Military Assistance Regulation Act.

South Africa's neutrality under scrutiny

When President Ramaphosa announced last week that the South African recruits would be returning, he expressed his “heartfelt gratitude” to Putin for his assistance.

Throughout the war, South Africa has tried to maintain a non-aligned stance, and has maintained strong relations with Moscow as a fellow member of BRICS along with Brazil, India and China.

But Pretoria's stance on the Russia–Ukraine war has sparked debate, with experts questioning its neutrality. Elizabeth Sidiropoulos of the South African Institute of International Affairs, a think tank, said, “Our non-aligned position does not mean that we condemn Russia's military intervention in Ukraine, which violated international law.”

South Africa has historical ties with Russia, dating back to the apartheid era when the Soviet Union helped arm and train resistance fighters opposing the apartheid regime. This has given rise to a delicate political balancing act under democracy.

However, South Africa's abstention from UN resolutions condemning Russia's actions in Ukraine has been criticized by Western countries in recent years.

Last Tuesday, the Russia-Ukraine war entered its fourth year and there is no sign that it will end soon. The number of casualties – Ukrainians, Russians and foreign mercenaries fighting on both sides – continues to rise, underscoring the human cost of the conflict that has drawn vulnerable recruits beyond Europe's borders.

Meanwhile, for the families of fighters – especially those who feel they were betrayed in the war – politics matter less than the pain they feel.

“We just want our kids home alive,” one parent said. “And we want those who betrayed us to face justice.”

*Names have been changed to protect privacy and security.