Durban – Former president Jacob Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, appeared in the Durban High Court on Monday at the start of her two-week trial over her alleged role in inciting the July 2021 unrest that left more than 300 people dead.
Through her lawyer, Advocate Dali Mpofu SC, Zuma-Sambudla questioned why other social media users who shared the same pictures during the unrest were not charged, arguing that she was being unfairly singled out.
The state accuses her of using her verified X (formerly Twitter) account, which has over 124,000 followers, to incite violence following her father’s imprisonment. She faces three charges — incitement to commit terrorism, incitement to commit violence, and violating the Riotous Assemblies Act.
Advocate Dali Mpofu, representing Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, argued in her July 2021 case that the tweets containing the phrase “We see you” was not an incitement to violence but rather an innocuous or general expression that had been misinterpreted by the state. pic.twitter.com/WBCUebj7do
— MDN NEWS (@MDNnewss) November 10, 2025
The state’s first witness, Major General Gopal Gounden from the Hawks, testified that Zuma-Sambudla’s posts — including videos of looting captioned “We see you” and “I see you” — were interpreted as support for the unrest. However, he admitted that many others shared the same images and were not prosecuted, insisting that Zuma-Sambudla’s influence amplified their impact.
Mpofu argued that Gounden’s testimony did not prove incitement, calling it “completely unhelpful” to the state’s case.
Gounden also revealed that the unrest was coordinated through 164 WhatsApp groups, with eight major networks used to direct looting and violence across the country after Zuma’s incarceration.
The trial continues on Tuesday, November 11.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
