-
Zuma-Sambudla in court
The Durban High Court has heard that Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla allegedly abused her position of power and political influence as the daughter of former President Jacob Zuma, to incite public violence through her social media posts.
This was the testimony of attorney Sarah-Jane Trent, who is a complainant in the trial against Zuma-Sambudla, charged with instigating violence during the 2021 July unrest.
Trent is a former employee of forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan.
She told the court that her decision to lay criminal charges against Zuma-Sambudla was influenced by a number of Tweets that she believed were inciting violence and caused public panic.
Trent says Zuma-Sambudla needed to be stopped.
“I felt that the accused as the leader of this country and former president’s daughter with a lot of followers and that thousands of people actually looked up to her for leadership, it was going to cause a lot of damage, of it which I did. My first impression was, are they going to the streets of Johannesburg? The burning of vehicles, looting, the violence post of machines guns being sent was this going to come to my doorstep? It just needed to be stopped! When looking at the Tweets My Lord, it was clear that’s incitement to public violence and malicious to injury to property was being posted along Twitter.”
Trent further referred the court to Tweets allegedly by Zuma-Sambudla which she labelled as problematic and disturbing.
“The former President Jacob Zuma was to hand himself over I think he was to hand himself over by the 8th of July. My Lord this is where you start to see the encouragement of people to come together encouraging them to fight to free Jacob Zuma. The message accompanying a video that was Tweeted. It says Mooi Plaza We See You and a fist emoji #FreeJacobZuma. The video My Lord is of burning vehicles and this is encouraging the burning of vehicles protest of the incarceration of the accused’s father.”
