By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Trial of Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former South African President, Jacob Zuma has commenced in the port city of Durban where she pleaded not guilty in connection with terrorism-related charges.
She is being prosecuted over comments credited to her on social media four years ago during deadly protest arising from the arrest of her father who was accused of corruption.
During the week-long July 2021 anarchy in parts of the country, at least 300 people were reported dead while damage worth an estimated $2.8bn (£2.2bn) were incurred over looting and arson.
The 43-year-old is being accused of fuelling the unrest. She faces charges of incitement to commit terrorism and public violence.
The protests in the provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal were sparked by Zuma’s arrest for allegedly disobeying a court order to testify at an inquiry into allegations of corruption while he was in power.
Ms Zuma-Sambudla has always denied the charges against her, with her lawyer previously labelling the state’s case as weak.
She has also repeatedly said the charges against her were an attempt to settle political scores with her father after he broke away from the African National Congress (ANC) and formed his own political party, uMkhonto weSizwe.
Jacob Zuma foundation had also said the case was an “abuse of power” and a “systematic campaign of political and familial harassment” against the former President and his family.
