The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) High Court in Durban heard how Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla’s social media activity shifted into the political arena, with comments under her posts warning that “bloodshed” could unfold in the name of her father, former president Jacob Zuma.
On Monday, a new witness, Hawks officer Janine Kollette Steynberg, appeared in court to provide evidence in the ongoing trial, which began a week ago.
Zuma-Sambudla faces charges of incitement to commit terrorism and incitement to commit violence linked to the July 2021 unrest, which left over 300 people dead and caused billions of rand in damage across KZN and Gauteng.
It is alleged that the MK party MP – who has pleaded not guilty – used her X (formerly Twitter) account to encourage violence and looting following her father’s imprisonment for defying a Constitutional Court (ConCourt) order.
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla’s social media activity scrutinised
During Monday’s proceedings, Steynberg, a cybercrime expert, explained that there were several accounts on X, Facebook, and Instagram claiming to belong to Zuma-Sambudla.
She confirmed the authenticity of the MK party MP’s real X profile, @DZumaSambudla, after Zuma-Sambudla shared screenshots discrediting two fake accounts.
The account was created in June 2019 and had over 123 000 followers at the time of the July riots.
“The accused herself addressed it on her real account that there are a number of fake accounts in her name,” Steynberg said.
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The Hawks officer testified that the account she identified as Zuma-Sambudla’s included posts featuring photos with her father and an audio clip of a “very endearing, intimate and personal” conversation between the two.
“Nobody else would have had access to that sort of material [other] than the accused herself,” she added.
Steynberg said much of the account’s content was personal until early 2021, when Zuma-Sambudla began posting about political and legal matters concerning her father.
“There was some political commentary or political party issues raised, but it was merely just a [personal] account.”
Nkandla ‘tea parties’
The witness revealed that the MK party MP initially responded on a post made by EFF leader Julius Malema on 3 February, in which he tagged the former president asking for a meeting over tea.
On 5 February, Zuma-Sambudla shared a photo of herself with Zuma and Malema, who had visited Nkandla in KZN for a tea meeting.
This was shortly around the time Zuma expressed defiance about appearing before the State Capture Commission, and prior to his conviction by the ConCourt in June.
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Malema’s visit later prompted other political figures, including former police minister Bheki Cele, to visit Nkandla.
“So after that, she then did a number of photos of various individuals and organisations meeting with the former president in what is styled as the tea party.
“It was rather widely publicised in the media,” Steynberg told the court.
From that tea party up until 29 June, when Zuma was found guilty of contempt of court, Zuma-Sambudla’s posts increasingly sought support for her father.
“They were nothing specifically inciting, but there is where it basically started,” Steynberg said.
After Zuma’s conviction and orders to surrender to authorities, Zuma-Sambudla began posting messages including “Amandla” and using #FreeZuma.
She also posted a tweet that, according to Google’s translation, said: “comrades, the time to fight in this arena with mobile phones is over.”
“That was [when] I got concerned because that was the first time that I understood it [to be] a request perhaps to say ‘let’s stop doing this on social media’ and that might have led some of the incidents and violence that happened,” Steynberg said, referring to the 29 June post.
Comments under posts
State prosecutor Yuri Gangai then questioned Steynberg about the comments under Zuma-Sambudla’s posts, which cautioned her against inciting violence.
One comment – shown as a screenshot in court – said: “Comrade Zuma-Sambudla, I thought you were matured. Stop inciting violence. Stop playing with the lives of the have nots.
“The people marching are hungry. Your father gave them nothing. If they get injured or arrested, he still won’t help them. Grow up please.”
Another comment stated: “There will be bloodshed in your family’s name, good luck.”
Zuma-Sambudla’s lawyer, Advocate Dali Mpofu, objected, calling the evidence “classical hearsay” and requesting that the commenter be summoned to testify.
“That’s valueless. How can your Lordship [give] any weight to what some ghost person said that we don’t know unless if that person is going to be called?” Mpofu argued.
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Judge Mbuzeni Mathenjwa also questioned the relevance of the comments.
Gangai defended their use as “real evidence” while admitting the comments have “an element of hearsay”.
“It is not being presented as the truth of what was said. This is what is observed. In a social media account; there are interactions and people respond,” he explained.
The prosecutor argued that it would be “impossible” to call every commenter as a witness.
“Their comments are there,” he said. “At the end of the day, it demonstrates the public reaction to what is in the tweet.”
Watch the court proceedings below:
Gangai added that hearsay evidence can be admitted in court, though Mathenjwa pointed out that an application would first need to be made.
The court decided that arguments on admissibility would be addressed later, while the prosecutor asked that the comments be accepted as evidence provisionally.
Continuing her testimony, Steynberg pointed out comments that expressed support for Zuma-Sambudla’s actions.
One shared a video of three men brandishing automatic rifles with the caption: “akunyiwe once, kuphele I cala”.
The post was re-shared 500 times, with Steynberg saying this widened the video’s reach.
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