South African radio presenter among five charged over Russia recruitment plot

A radio presenter with South Africa's public broadcaster has appeared in court on a charge related to the alleged recruitment of men for the Russian military.

Nonkululeko Patricia Mantula is among five people who prosecutors say are facing charges for contravening a law which prohibits South Africans from joining a foreign army without official permission. They have not yet been asked to plead.

The arrests are the first since the South African government said in November that 17 citizens had "seemingly" been lured to join mercenary forces in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Police told the BBC that at this stage, they are not linking the two cases.

Mantula, 39, is a presenter of The Morning Bliss, a show on the SABC's SAFM radio station. Neither she nor SABC has commented on her arrest.

Her arrest, along with four others, follows the dramatic resignation from parliament last Friday of Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of South Africa's former President Jacob Zuma, who has been accused of duping the 17 South African men - including some of her relatives - into fighting for Russia, an allegation she denies.