A South African radio personality appeared in court on Monday accused of recruiting individuals to fight for Russia in the war in Ukraine. Nonkululeko Mantula, 39, was arrested with four males after a tip-off, South African police said. She is charged with enlisting the four men and arranging for their enlistment in the Russian military.
Three of the men were arrested while attempting to board a flight to Russia via the United Arab Emirates, according to South African police. Police said they thought another person had already flown to Russia after being recruited by Mantula.
It is unlawful in South Africa to fight for another country’s military without the government’s consent. The five suspects apprehended in South Africa were ordered to be remanded in custody until a bail hearing next week.
The arrest of Mantula, a presenter on the state broadcaster’s SAFM radio program, occurred as police are separately probing the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma for allegedly luring another 17 men into fighting as mercenaries for Russia in Ukraine. Due of the accusations, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla quit last week as a member of her father’s opposition MK Party.
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