uMkhonto Wesizwe party MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has resigned from Parliament after criminal charges were laid against her for allegedly duping party supporters to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has resigned from Parliament as an MP for the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party with "immediate effect" following allegations that she recruited individuals for military training in Russia, which led to them fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war against their will.

The party's national chairperson, Nathi Nhleko, announced Zuma-Sambudla's resignation on Friday, 28 November, during a media briefing in Durban.

News24 reported that the men believed they were going to Russia for "bodyguard training" in Russia, but were instead given military training, forced to sign contracts they did not understand and then sent to the frontlines of the war against Ukraine. Zuma-Sambudla is alleged to have recruited the men.

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Her own half-sister, Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube, laid human-trafficking and fraud charges against her, as Daily Maverick reported.

Some of the recruits are members of the Zuma family, alleged Zuma-Mncube.

Zuma-Mncube also laid charges related to the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, and the Foreign Military Assistance Act.

The Presidency said earlier in November that it had received "distress" calls from 17 South African citizens who had been lured into fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war, under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts.

"President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered...