Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla's legal team has asked the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban to dismiss the case against her, a step that would spare her a full terrorism-incitement trial. According to published reports, the application was set down for argument at 2pm on Thursday, and Judge Mbuzeni Mathenjwa is expected either to rule that day or to reserve judgment.
She faces one count of incitement to commit terrorism and two counts of incitement to commit public violence. The charges arise from the July 2021 unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, which followed her father Jacob Zuma's imprisonment for contempt of court. The State alleges her social media posts encouraged participation in the violence and contributed to its escalation. She has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent.
What the defence argues
Advocate Dali Mpofu, for Zuma-Sambudla, argues the prosecution's case should not proceed. He challenged the credibility of the investigating officer, Colonel Bheki Nazo, saying Nazo adopted the complainant's views without adequately questioning the allegations.
Mpofu also suggested the case is a political plot to tarnish Zuma-Sambudla and her father. He questioned the State's decision to reverse its earlier position on not calling Nazo to testify, and said Nazo's evidence was more helpful to the defence than to the prosecution. These are the defence's submissions, not findings of the court.
What the State's evidence says
In his testimony, Nazo conceded that from July 2021 he believed Zuma-Sambudla had conspired with others to stoke the unrest and destabilise the country. He rejected the suggestion that the case is a political game, saying she "posted what she posted" and "encouraged what she encouraged", and that people died and property was damaged.
That is the investigating officer's view. It is an allegation that the State must prove in court, and it has not been tested to a verdict.
