Zuma-Sambudla loses bid to have terrorism charges dropped as trial continues

Duduzile Sambudla-Zuma

Cape Town – Former uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has suffered a legal setback after the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban dismissed her application to have criminal charges linked to the July 2021 unrest dropped.

Judge Mbuzeni Mathenjwa dismissed the application on Friday, 6 November, meaning Zuma-Sambudla will have to continue facing charges of incitement to commit terrorism and incitement to commit public violence.

According to The Citizen, the defence had brought a Section 174 application under the Criminal Procedure Act after the state concluded presenting its evidence, arguing that prosecutors had failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) KwaZulu-Natal regional spokesperson, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, explained that the ruling meant the prosecution had successfully demonstrated sufficient grounds for the case to continue.

“If you look at the application for 174, that was to dispel the state’s case or for the court to rule that the state had not brought a prima facie case against the accused.

“The ruling in the state’s favour obviously means that the state’s charges against the accused are valid,” she said.

Ramkisson-Kara added: “So now that means the case must continue.”

The matter has been postponed to 17 May 2027 to allow both the prosecution and defence to present further legal arguments.

Defence challenged state’s evidence

As reported by TimesLIVE, advocate Dali Mpofu, representing Zuma-Sambudla, previously argued that the state had failed to establish that her social media posts directly encouraged people to commit criminal acts.

Mpofu also questioned why Zuma-Sambudla had been charged when other social media users had shared similar posts during the unrest.

He described the state’s evidence relating to her “We See You” posts as “laughable”, challenging prosecutors to demonstrate that anyone had broken the law as a result of her messages.

However, the state maintained that it had presented sufficient evidence, including witness testimony, to support the charges.

In an earlier report, The Citizen reported that police investigators had examined Zuma-Sambudla’s financial records and cellphone data but could not establish a link between her and the financing or communications of groups involved in the unrest.

The investigating officer, Colonel Bheki Nazo, told the court: “We could not prove the communication between the accused person and those other groups.”

Charges stem from deadly July 2021 unrest

The charges relate to the widespread July 2021 violence that erupted following the imprisonment of her father, former president Jacob Zuma, for contempt of court.

The unrest, which affected KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, was characterised by widespread looting, destruction of businesses and infrastructure, and deadly violence.

According to Mail & Guardian, the prosecution’s case centres on messages, images and videos shared on Zuma-Sambudla’s former Twitter account, now known as X, during the unrest.

The state alleges that her posts encouraged people to participate in the violence and contributed to its escalation.

Zuma-Sambudla has pleaded not guilty to the charges and disputes the state’s interpretation of her social media activity.

Her father, Jacob Zuma, was present at the Durban High Court on Friday to support her.

The trial is expected to resume on 17 May 2027.

Picture: X/@MkhontoweSizwex

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Compiled by Betha Madhomu

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