Former president Jacob Zuma. (Photo: Delwyn Verasamy/Mail & Guardian)
The lawyer representing Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, advocate Dali Mpofu SC, told the Durban High Court that her father, former president Jacob Zum, might possibly testify as the first witness in her ongoing incitement trial.
“If the case goes that far, the first witness [my client] is going to call is Mr Jacob Zuma. He will tell the court how he felt about being incarcerated without undergoing a trial,” Mpofu said.
Zuma-Sambudla pleaded not guilty to incitement charges on Monday at the start of her trial for her alleged role in the violence in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, triggered by the jailing of her father for contempt of court after failing to appear before the Zondo Commission inquiry on state capture.
Mpofu made the comments in Tuesday’s court session in response to a statement from the state’s second witness, Sarah-Jane Trent, that Zuma-Sambudla was an associate of the Gupta family which allegedly played a significant role in state capture during her father’s presidency.
Trent is a former employee at Forensic For Justice, an organisation run by Paul O’Sullivan, a known Zuma critic.
In her statement, Trent, accused Zuma-Sambudla of being a director and beneficiary of at least three Gupta entities, namely Sahara Systems, Sahara consumables and Sahara computers.
Mpofu asked her how the Gupta story was relevant in her laying a criminal charge against his client, saying she had included politics in a case that had to do with incitement. This was in reference to Trent telling the court that she had opened a case against Zuma-Sambudla in 2021 because she feared that the violence in Kwa-Zulu Natal would spread to Johannesburg, where she lived.
She said Zuma-Sambudla’s social media posts showed images of burning trucks and gun-wielding men, which made her believe that they constituted incitement to violence.
Trent said she had mentioned the Gupta link as background of Zuma-Sambudla’s connections, alluding that she was part of a free Jacob Zuma campaign after he was sent to prison for defying the Zondo commission.
“In South Africa, everybody knows about the state capture, the allegations about the Guptas and the Zumas, it’s been publicised internationally. She is an associate of the Guptas and it is widely known,”
Mpofu said his client would testify and show the court that she had no ties with the Guptas and the allegation was false, but Trent stuck to her guns that her statement was true.
Mpofu also put it to Trent that her working for O’Sullivan, an ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, would have motivated her to open the case.
More than 300 people were killed in the 2021 riots, and police said 69 people have been arrested for their role in the riots. But thus far, only one conviction has been secured.
It is the state’s case that Sambudla-Zuma incited violence by sharing pictures or videos of the violence and looting that was happening during the 21 July unrest and that some of her followers on X had resorted to violence because of her videos.
The court on Monday heard that in most of the tweets she would mention the location and add: “I See You“ or “ We See You”.
The defence says the case is politically motivated.
The trail is expected to run for two weeks.