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The daughter of former South African president Jacob Zuma has pleaded not guilty to charges of inciting violence during riots in 2021, which left at least 350 people dead.
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, 43, appeared at the high court in Durban for the first day of her trial, with prosecutors alleging that she incited others to commit acts of violence through posts on social media.
Riots erupted in July 2021 when Jacob Zuma was arrested for ignoring a court order to testify at a corruption inquiry, leading to widespread looting. The overall financial damage caused by the riots was estimated to stand at 50 billion rand and has been described as the worst civil unrest in the country since the end of apartheid.
Zuma, who was president from 2009 to 2018, was in court to support his daughter and sat alongside members of his political party, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK). The trial, being held at the high court in Durban, takes place in the Zuma stronghold of KwaZulu-Natal, where the violence first erupted.
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A suspected looter pleads with a soldier detaining suspected looters at the Jabulani mall in Soweto in 2021 (AFP via Getty Images)
Currently serving as a member of parliament for the MK Party, Zuma-Sambudla is facing charges of incitement to commit terrorism and incitement to commit public violence under legislation addressing threats to national security. It is the first case in South Africa where social media activity forms the basis of a terrorism-related prosecution.
According to prosecutors, Zuma-Sambudla shared provocative posts online and delivered speeches during June and July 2021. Prosecutors say that the “natural and probable outcome” of her remarks was the outbreak of public disorder.
Outside the courthouse, about a dozen MK Party supporters gathered in a show of solidarity. Among those present was Zandile Gumede, the former mayor of eThekwini – the municipality that includes Durban – who attended while dealing with her own corruption charges.
In earlier court appearances, Zuma-Sambudla’s defence lawyer acknowledged that she had used social media to comment on her father’s imprisonment and the unrest that followed but rejected claims that her statements incited violence.
Zuma-Sambudla, who was arrested almost four years after the violence in January, has described the case as politically motivated and, during a recent hearing, appeared wearing a T-shirt reading “modern day terrorist” across the front.
While only a small number of cases relating to violence during the unrest have reached court, the South African Human Rights Commission say that around 66 potential cases sit with national prosecutors but face challenges due to a “general lack of evidence … and hesitations by witnesses to co-operate or testify due to fears of reprisal and victimisation”.