Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, appeared in court on Thursday following charges of fueling violence during a 2021 riot that killed more than 300 people in South Africa.
Prosecutors were of the opinion that Zuma-Sambudla incited others to commit acts of violence through social media posts in July 2021. This followed her father’s arrest for disobeying a court order to testify at a corruption inquiry.
The riot, which started as anger over Zuma’s jailing before turning into a rage over poverty and inequality, led to the looting of thousands of shops, extensive damage to public infrastructure, and the deaths of about 350 people.
According to one of her lawyers, Zuma-Sambudla is set to plead not guilty to the charges.
Jacob Zuma accompanied Zuma-Sambudla to the court in Durban where she was released on a warning until another court appearance scheduled for March.

After his contempt of court sentence ended in 2022, Zuma backed a new political party uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a major disruptor in last year’s national election.
MK won 58 parliamentary seats, contributing to a sharp drop in support for the African National Congress (ANC) which Zuma used to lead. The ANC was forced into a broad coalition with other smaller parties.
Zuma-Sambudla is one of MK’s lawmakers in the lower house of parliament.
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The South Africa riot of July 2021
The 2021 South African unrest, also known as the July 2021 riots, the Zuma unrest, or Zuma riots, was a wave of civil unrest that occurred in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces from 9 to 18 July 2021, sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of court.


Resulting protests against the incarceration triggered wider rioting and looting, much of it said to be undertaken by people, not in support of Zuma and fuelled by job layoffs and economic inequality worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic policies.
The unrest began in the province of KwaZulu-Natal on the evening of 9 July and spread to the province of Gauteng on 11 July. It was recorded as the worst violence that South Africa had experienced since the end of Apartheid in 1994.
Zuma was taken into custody after declining to testify at the Zondo Commission, an inquiry into allegations of corruption during his term as president from 2009 to 2018. The Constitutional Court reserved judgment on Zuma’s application to rescind his sentence on 12 July 2021.
The South African government reported that 354 people died in the riots. As of 12 August 2022, 5,500 people were arrested in connection with the unrest. Also, financial damage recorded during that period was estimated at $2.70 billion.
In his legal battle, Zuma was charged with corruption in March 2018, in connection with the South African Arms Deal, known as the “Strategic Defence Package” worth R30 billion (equal to US$2.5 billion or £2 billion).
The legal proceedings against Zuma were a test of post-apartheid South Africa’s ability to enforce the rule of law. The violence also worsened as Zuma challenged his 15-month jail term in South Africa’s top court.


The deteriorating situation pointed to wider problems and unfulfilled expectations that followed the end of white minority rule in 1994 and the election of Nelson Mandela in South Africa’s first free and democratic vote.
The country’s economy was struggling to emerge from the damage wrought by Africa’s worst COVID-19 epidemic, with authorities repeatedly imposing restrictions on businesses. During that period, growing joblessness left South Africa more desperate as unemployment hit a record high of 32.6 per cent in the first three months of 2021.