SA men lured to Ukraine war claim racism and abuse

The group of South Africans who claim they were lured under false pretences into fighting for Russia in Ukraine say they were subjected to racist abuse by Russian officers.

Four of the men returned home this weekend, describing a nightmare they say they were never prepared for.

They claim they were sent to the front lines with little training, stripped of their identities and deployed into active combat.

One man reportedly lost a leg in the conflict.

Jabulani Khumalo, an expelled founder of the uMkhonto weSizwe party, was at the airport to receive some of the men as they returned to South Africa.

“We went to greet them. We're hoping very soon to be able to talk to them and have a proper chat with them."

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The group claims they were recruited under false pretences, and much of the blame is being put at the door of former MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former president Jacob Zuma.

“We found out that Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, her people started recruiting these men, as they were going around on a campaign from the MK Partty and they started doing these wrong things to traffic our men to a warzone."

Khumalo says the men were promised they would be trained to be bodyguards for senior members of the MK Party.

"This was totally a lie. When they went there, they were trained for a week and then taken to the front lines of the war."

Khumalo claims the men were, in fact, sold to agents in Russia to help that country's invasion of Ukraine.

"Duduzile and her cronies knew exactly what was happening; there was money exchanged."

Khumalo adds that the negotiation around securing the men's release was made all the more difficult because money had changed hands.

"There are two amounts that we have encountered, the first was R14 million, the second was R34 million."

Five people have since been charged for allegedly recruiting the men, and Zuma-Sambudla's resignation from Parliament has been linked to the scandal.

Questions remain about how many South Africans are still in the conflict zone, and also whether all of them are still alive.

To listen to Khumalo in conversation with 702 Bongani Bingwa, use the audio player below: