A suspected looter is fired upon with rubber bullets by Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department officers (EMPD) on patrol inide a flooded mall in Vosloorus, on July 13, 2021. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
It has taken the Hawks almost four years to bring a case of domestic terrorism against Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla for the role that she allegedly played in the violence that accompanied the civil unrest that ripped through KwaZulu-Natal, and to a lesser part Gauteng, in July 2021.
Those eight shameful days, and the investigative reports that emanated from the so-called failed insurrection, should have wiped any scales from the eyes of the naive who still believed — given numerous testimonies heard at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture — that Jacob Zuma and his family had the interests of South Africa at heart.
The news of Zuma-Sambudla’s court appearance on Thursday “on charges of the July 2021 uprising” was initially made known through a poster circulated on social media by her and her father’s new political home, the uMkhonto weSizwe party.
All “ground forces” should “attend in numbers”, announced the poster.
That the death of more than 300 people and destruction associated with that time of criminal chaos has been labelled an “uprising” by the former president’s new party speaks volumes. It is reminiscent of a narrative, quickly and accurately dismissed, that crept in just after the unrest, that these were “food riots”.
The violence and looting were sparked by Jacob Zuma being imprisoned on legitimate contempt of court charges. His release on medical parole grounds and then being granted a remission of sentence remains an indictment on the robustness of our justice infrastructure.
We must remember that not once at the time of the unrest did Zuma raise his head, as a man of conviction and character would, and declare “not in my name”. Instead, Zuma bleated that he had no control over what people did in his name.
The intelligent guess is that Zuma-Sambudla will adopt the same posture if the matter ever gets to trial. If patterns hold there will be bravado until then, and talk of conspiracies against the Zuma family — the word persecution will be thrown around like confetti.
We wait in anticipation to hear the evidence the state has against Zuma-Sambudla and trust the case it has built is solid.
But we also approach what is to come with trepidation.
Thus far, there have only been small-fry arrests. And of those 69 arrests, there has only been one conviction. This has not shifted the needle of our confidence one little bit.