South African radio presenter, five others charged in Russian recruitment plot

A South African public broadcaster radio presenter has appeared in court accused of recruiting men for the Russian army.

Prosecutors said Nonkululeko Patricia Mantula was one of five people facing charges for violating a law banning South Africans from joining foreign armies without official permission. They have not yet been asked to plead their case.

The arrests are the first since the South African government said in November that 17 citizens “appeared” to have been lured into joining mercenaries in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Police told the BBC they had not linked the two cases at this stage.

Mantura, 39, is the presenter of Morning Happiness on SABC’s SAFM radio station. Neither she nor the SABC have commented on her arrest.

Her arrest and that of four others follows the dramatic resignation from parliament on Friday of Duduzile Zuma-Sambudra, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, accused of tricking 17 South African men – including some of her relatives – into fighting for Russia, a charge she denies.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said Mantura was arrested along with four men aged between 21 and 46 years old.

They each face charges of violating the Foreign Military Assistance Management Act.

The arrests were made following a police tip-off at South Africa’s main international airport in Johannesburg, the NPA said.

The statement added that they were “intercepted” while trying to travel to Russia via the United Arab Emirates and “removed from the gate after being deemed suspicious.”

The NPA said it further alleged that Mantula “has been facilitating the travel and recruitment of Russian Federation forces by her co-defendants”.

Mantula and her co-accused appeared briefly in Kempton Park Magistrates’ Court near Johannesburg on Monday and were remanded in custody.

The NPA said it was “committed to ensuring that individuals who breach the country’s laws are held accountable and will continue to work with other law enforcement partners to protect the integrity and security of South Africa”.

The defendant will appear in court again on December 8 to apply for bail.

In November, the South African government said it had received calls for help from 17 citizens who were trapped in Ukraine’s war-torn Donbass region after joining mercenaries.

It added that it was working to bring them back through “diplomatic channels” but that this had not yet happened.

The men were lured into joining mercenaries on the pretext of lucrative contracts, the government said, adding that it condemned “the exploitation of young and vulnerable people by individuals working with foreign military entities.”

South Africa’s unemployment rate exceeds 30%, and youth unemployment is even higher.

Zuma-Sambudla resigned as an MP after her half-sister, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube, filed a police complaint accusing her of tricking the 17 men into working as mercenaries to fight for Russia.

Zuma-Mkubi said eight of the people were members of her family who were “handed over to Russian mercenary groups to fight in the war in Ukraine without their knowledge or consent”.

South Africa’s elite police force, the Eagles, said its officers were investigating the case, focusing on “crimes against the state.”

Zuma-Sambudra, who became a member of parliament for uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), the largest opposition party, last year said in an affidavit that she believed the men had gone to Russia for “legitimate” training.

MK said she decided to resign because she wanted to focus on ensuring people trapped in war zones returned home.

In September, Kenyan police said they rescued more than 20 people from a suspected trafficking ring that lured them with job opportunities in Russia but intended to send them to fight in Ukraine.

Ukraine has previously said its prison camps house citizens from Somalia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cuba and Sri Lanka.

The group has previously been criticized for trying to recruit foreigners, including Africans, to its ranks.

In 2022, Senegal’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the Kiev ambassador to demand the withdrawal of the embassy’s Facebook post urging foreigners to join the army.

At the time, Nigeria also warned that it would not tolerate Ukrainian recruitment activities, forcing it to give up.