By Marcus Moloko
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) member and daughter of former President Jacob Zuma, pleaded not guilty on Monday in the Durban High Court to charges of incitement to commit terrorism and two counts of incitement to commit public violence.
The charges stem from her role as an alleged instigator in the July 2021 riots that ripped through KwaZulu-Natal and, to a lesser extent, Gauteng, when her father was facing arrest on contempt of court charges.
More than 300 people, the majority of them rioters and looters, were killed, and businesses across KwaZulu-Natal, and some in Gauteng, were looted and torched during the eight days of civil unrest that President Cyril Ramaphosa described as a “failed insurrection”.
Zuma-Sambudla arrived at court accompanied by MK party strategist Nhlamulo Ndlhela, Jacob Zuma, former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede, and MKP senior members David Skosana and Des van Rooyen.
Legal analyst Mpumelelo Zikalala said this would be a “unique and challenging case” for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
“It’s very unique in the sense that I think it’s going to be the first time in which social media is used as a means of communication [to prosecute terrorism related charges],” said Zikalala.
He describes the state’s case as “a bit weak”, as it revolved around the element of causation.
“It’s likely defence will argue a lack of specificity, that the posts were simply musings, not detailed commands identifying targets, and that individuals acted solely on their own volition,” he said.
In a prior appearance before the Durban magistrate’s court in January, Zuma-Sambudla insisted there was no evidence linking her to the unrest. She accused the state of pursuing a “malicious and politically motivated” prosecution designed to punish her father’s allies.
“The mere fact that it has taken the state almost four years to work out where a few social media messages constitute ‘terrorism’ speaks for itself as an indication that the NPA is clutching at straws with a very weak case,” she said at the time.
INSIDE POLITICS