2 hours ago
6
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, a politician and daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma, has pleaded not guilty to incitement to commit terrorism and public violence over deadly riots in 2021.
The trial, which began on Monday in the coastal city of Durban, is the first prosecution in South Africa in which terrorism‑related charges are being brought based on social media posts.
In July 2021, Zuma handed himself in to police to serve a 15-month sentence for contempt of court over his refusal to appear before a commission investigating widespread corruption – often referred to as “state capture”. He served only two months of an 18-month prison term, mostly in the prison’s hospital wing, before he was released as part of a decision affecting certain nonviolent offenders approved by the president, Cyril Ramaphosa.
His jailing sparked riots in the provinces of Gauteng, which is home to the economic capital of Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal, whose capital is Durban.
More than 350 people were killed and the economy ravaged in what was considered the worst episode of domestic unrest since the end of apartheid.
Prosecutors accuse Zuma-Sambudla, 43, of playing a key role in inciting the violence through social media activity.
She has denied the allegations and at a preliminary hearing wore a T-shirt with the words “Modern Day Terrorist” – a seemingly satirical retort to the charges.
Zuma-Sambudla followed her father when he left the ruling African National Congress in 2023 to found uMkhonto weSizwe(MK), the nationalist party named after the ANC’s former militant wing. She has become one of his most trusted allies and was elected to the national assembly in last year’s election on MK’s platform.
In court on Monday, Zuma-Sambudla smiled and seemed under no pressure. Her father, who was in power for nine years, was in court to support his daughter, who was born in Mozambique while he was in exile.
Prosecutors said 164 WhatsApp social media chat groups were created to coordinate the riots in 2021 and that Zuma-Sambudla “intentionally and unlawfully encouraged the public to act in acts of violence under the guise of freeing Jacob Zuma from incarceration”.
A representative of the Jacob Zuma Foundation claimed the case was the latest example of the state’s targeted prosecution of the family.
“For more than two decades, state institutions have been selectively mobilised to destroy President Zuma and those associated with him,” said Mzwanele Manyi. “The state’s case rests on a bizarre premise: that her social media posts during July 2021 somehow ‘incited’ unrest. In truth, her posts were reactive commentaries on events already unfolding, as millions of South Africans expressed anguish and frustration at the unlawful imprisonment of a liberation hero.”
Most of the alleged corruption under investigation by the commission involved the Guptas, three brothers from a wealthy Indian business family who won lucrative government contracts and were allegedly even able to choose cabinet ministers.
