The daughter of former President Jacob Zuma, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, has pleaded not guilty at the commencement of her trial in the Durban High Court in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa (SA).
She is charged in terms of the Terrorism Act and faces one count of incitement to commit the offence of terrorism and two counts of incitement to commit public violence.
The charges relate to her social media posts during the civil unrest in July 2021.
The prosecution, led by Advocate Yuri Gangai, outlined the State’s case, arguing that Zuma-Sambudla’s posts on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, were deliberate acts to disturb public discourse and to actively encourage and coordinate the widespread looting and destruction.
Zuma-Sambudla repeatedly posted video clips and images during the unrest, often accompanied by statements such as (We see you).
The state says these posts violated the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act by intending to spread terror and panic.
Defence Advocate Dali Mpofu told the court that Zuma-Sambudla’s posts were merely an observation of the widespread frustration and poverty, and a show of solidarity with citizens, not an act of incitement.
The state has called its first witness to the stand, Major-General Gopaul Govender, who was the National Co-ordinator of the civil unrest.
Govender is on the stand detailing how 103 persons of interest were identified by the Hawks from eight WhatsApp groups in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
–SABC–
