Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla pleads not guilty in July unrest matter, State says case is about ‘power of words’
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla arriving at the Durban High Court on Monday for her trial.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former President Jacob Zuma, pleaded not guilty to the charges against her on Monday at the Durban High Court as her incitement trial began.
Her attorney Advocate Dali Mpofu said his client would not be making any statement at the start of the trial. However he said there was the bail affidavit that she had submitted when she applied for bail.
Zuma-Sambudla, who is a Member of Parliament for her father’s party, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), has been charged with three counts of incitement related to her online posts during the July unrest in 2021. The unrest came about after Zuma handed himself over to authorities to serve his sentence for contempt of court.
The trial is expected to run for two weeks. Zuma was present in court on Monday to support his daughter.
Former president Jacob Zuma arrives at the Durban High Court to support his daughter.
Image: MK Party / X
She has been charged with incitement to commit terrorism and two counts of incitement to commit public violence.
Senior State Advocate Yuri Gangai said in his opening statement that this was not an “ordinary case”, it was a case about the “power of words”.
He said the State would prove that through social media “the accused intentionally and unlawfully encouraged the public to act in acts of violence under the guise of freeing Jacob Zuma from incarceration”.
He added that the State would show that the accused understood the volatility at the time and chose to fuel it.
Earlier on Monday, the Jacob Zuma Foundation again accused the State of abusing its power, claiming it is targeting the former president’s family through Zuma-Sambudla’s prosecution.
“The foundation notes with deep concern the renewed abuse of state power in the continued persecution of President Zuma’s family,” spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said.
“The latest target is President Zuma’s daughter, Ms Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, who now faces trial on baseless and politically motivated charges under the guise of ‘terrorism’,” Manyi said.
He argued that the case represents another attempt to “weaponise the criminal justice system to settle political scores” against the Zuma family.
The trial continues.