Russia elephant in Cyril’s room

2026-03-02 - 04:03

It’s an extraordinary watershed moment. It will upend the local party political landscape and, on the international stage, will drive a much tougher diplomatic stance at the UN and in humanitarian forums. President Cyril Ramaphosa at the weekend condemned the Israeli government and the DA for what he described as “the unlawful abduction and press-ganging” of a large group of South Africans for deployment to the front-line of the Zionist state’s illegal occupation of Gaza. He demanded the men’s “immediate repatriation” and announced a commission of inquiry to examine the DA’s involvement. Before dawn, Hawks investigators raided DA headquarters and the homes of suspected MPs and party officials. Several senior figures were taken in for questioning. Anonymous “intelligence sources” said the local organisers had long military and political links with Israel and extremist Zionist organisations. The men, with no previous soldiering experience, were allegedly lured by promises of substantial salaries and told they would be deployed in safe civilian areas to perform routine, non-combat guarding duties. Instead, on arrival in Tel Aviv, accompanied by a family member of a serving DA MP, their phones were seized, their bank accounts frozen and after a mere three days of “training”, they were fed into Gaza’s meat-grinder. Meanwhile, Ronald Lamola, minister of international relations and cooperation, called for an urgent sitting of the UN General Assembly to condemn what he calls “a foreign state’s exploitation of counter-revolutionary elements inside SA”. Now for the reality check Now for the reality check. Of course, Israel isn’t involved. The party isn’t the DA. The destination isn’t Gaza. The state actor is Russia; the party is uMkhonto weSizwe (MK); the killing ground is Ukraine. The facts are as follows. On 8 July 2025, 22 recruits flew to Moscow with MK MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, who is also Jacob’s daughter. Three days later, most of the men signed infantry contracts drafted in Russian and 17 were deployed to front-line combat units. These recruits were joining about 1 800 Africans from 36 countries currently fighting in the Russian army, many lured by deception and false job promises. The small South African cohort that arrived back at King Shaka International, following the belated intervention of the Ramaphosa administration. Of the 15 that made it back, one was in a wheelchair with injuries sustained in a drone strike, while another underwent amputations and remains in a Russian hospital. A third is missing in action, believed killed. ALSO READ: Trump and Iranian state media confirm the death of Supreme Leader Khamenei Silence, hypocrisy and moral selectivity In this sorry saga of exploitation, there is no valour, no courage. Unlike the imaginary – but entirely credible – scenario sketched above of how Pretoria would have reacted had Israel and the DA been involved, the reality has been the usual South African mix of cowardice, hypocrisy and moral selectivity: The men flew to Russia in July. Yet Ramaphosa only surfaced in November, after four months of total silence. There has been no rebuke of the Russians. There have been no ICC applications. No UN mobilisation. Zuma-Sambudla has not been charged, although she has resigned from parliament. South Africa likes to think of itself as the world’s moral superpower and a natural leader of the non-aligned world. It will remain a laughable ambition until it learns to act with the foreign policy even-handedness that this demands. NOW READ: ‘It was war’: Men recruited to fight for Russia describe treatment on the frontlines – report