Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
Duduzile-Zuma-Sambudla pleaded not guilty on Monday morning in the Durban High Court, as the trial began into her alleged involvement in the July 2021 unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, following the jailing of her father, former president Jacob Zuma, for contempt of court.
Zuma-Sambudla previously appeared at the Durban Magistrate’s Court following her arrest in January on charges of incitement to terrorism and public violence relating to social media posts, mostly on her X account, made during the unrest.
The matter was certified trial-ready in August and is expected to run until 21 November.
The state is expected to call six witnesses, three of whom are social media experts.
Supporters of Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party and its senior leadership were in and outside the high court to support Zuma-Sambudla.
The 2021 unrest broke out after the former president was arrested following the Constitutional Court ruling that he should serve 15 months in prison for contempt of court after he failed to appear before the Zondo commission inquiry into state capture.
More than 300 people were killed in the riots, and according to Sihle Zikalala, who was KwaZulu-Natal premier at the time, the vast majority of them were criminals who were fighting over stolen goods. Police said 69 people have been arrested for their role in the riots, but thus far, only one conviction has been secured.
Zuma-Sambudla has always maintained her innocence, accusing the National Prosecuting Authority of malicious prosecution, saying she was being used by the state to “settle political scores” because of her father.
“They are aimed at settling political scores with my father, by the current regime,” she said of the charges against her.
In an affidavit read out by her legal representative Dali Mpofu SC, during her bail hearing in January, Zuma-Sambudla said she did not deny that she sent “some messages” during the unrest, but believed these had been “misconstrued”.
During the unrest, Sambudla-Zuma would post, “We See You” on X, accompanied by images and videos of the destruction. She said it was “plainly nonsensical and petty” to suggest that people were influenced into violence by the posts.
It remains unclear whether the state has a strong case, as former Ukhozi FM radio personality Ngizwe Mchunu was not found guilty for using the word “ay’khale”, which the state had alleged incited violence.
Mchunu was set free in November 2023, leaving the state with egg in the face.
“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,” Sambudla-Zuma’s affidavit read.
She said that there was no evidence linking her to the riots and that she would be pleading not guilty to the schedule six charges brought by the state.