Overview
- SAPS confirmed an inquiry docket was opened at Sandton Police Station and transferred to the Hawks’ Crimes Against the State unit, with specific charges still to be determined.
- Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube accused her stepsister, MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, along with Siphokazi Xuma and Blessing Khoza, of deceiving the men with security‑training offers and violating anti‑trafficking and foreign military assistance laws.
- Government says the men, aged 20 to 39, sought help from Donbas; relatives report they signed Russian‑language contracts after job or training promises and later lost contact.
- Sixteen of the men are from KwaZulu‑Natal and one from the Eastern Cape; DIRCO and the Presidency are pursuing repatriation as Minister Ronald Lamola says the law must take its course.
- The Ukrainian embassy says it has no record of the group and denies they are fighting for Ukraine, while the Russian embassy declined comment; no arrests or convictions in this case have been announced.