JOHANNESBURG — A daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma was arrested Thursday and appeared in a court on terrorism charges for allegedly inciting violence through social media posts before and during riots that shook the country four years ago and left more than 350 people dead.
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Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, who is a member of Parliament, was released on warning — which is similar to bail without money needing to be put down — while her case was moved to a higher court to continue in March.
Her lawyer said she did make social media posts on what was then known as Twitter related to the riots in July 2021 but denied they incited violence.
The riots, which lasted more than a week, were sparked by Jacob Zuma being sent to prison for contempt of court for refusing to testify at an inquiry into widespread government corruption during the time he was president from 2009-2018. Zuma was forced to step down because of graft allegations.
The riots were some of the worst civil unrest South Africa has seen since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994. Angry mobs engaged in widespread looting of shops and warehouses, arson and destruction of property and more than 5,000 people were arrested.
Authorities estimated the riots caused more than $2 billion in damage. The disorder and violence caught authorities unprepared and left South Africa uneasy after three largely peaceful decades since apartheid ended.
More than 60 other people have previously been arrested for allegedly inciting violence during the unrest, which authorities say was stoked by Jacob Zuma supporters in an “insurrection” against current President Cyril Ramaphosa, the man who replaced Zuma as leader of the country and the ruling African National Congress party.
Zuma-Sambudla was accused of urging protesters to cause more damage during the riots as a sign of support for her father.
Police said Zuma-Sambudla handed herself over at a police station in the eastern city of Durban on Thursday morning.
The investigation into her involvement in the riots was conducted by a special police unit that deals with serious and organized crime, known as the Hawks. The unit had taken so long to gather evidence because of the complexities of the case and the need for social media specialists, prosecutors said.
“The arrest is as a result of a meticulous investigation … following the unrest that brought the country to a standstill in 2021,” Hawks spokesperson Brig. Thandi Mbambo said.
Prosecutors said Zuma-Sambudla faces charges of incitement to commit terrorism and incitement to commit public violence under a law that deals with threats to the state. They said Zuma-Sambudla made social media posts and speeches in June and July 2021 and the “natural and probable consequence” of her statements “would be the commission of public violence.”
While Jacob Zuma’s arrest was believed to be the only catalyst for the riots, a later investigation found that they were also partly spurred by frustration and poverty at a time South Africa was under harsh lockdowns because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The prosecution of Zuma-Sambudla, 42, is likely to stoke political tensions in South Africa amid an ongoing feud between Zuma and Ramaphosa. South African media reported a strong police presence at the courthouse in Durban — where Zuma has large support — and a police helicopter hovered overhead.
Zuma, 82, was also in court, while supporters of a new political party he now leads after his expulsion from the African National Congress gathered outside. His MK Party said the charges against Zuma-Sambudla, a senior party official, were politically motivated to try and weaken what is now South Africa’s main opposition.
Zuma-Sambudla smiled in court and was wearing a headscarf in the black and green colors of the MK Party, a new political threat to the long-dominant ANC.
Jacob Zuma has repeatedly claimed that his own legal troubles are politically motivated, even though he has been the subject of multiple criminal investigations dating back to the mid-2000s.
He served two months in prison for contempt of court but has also been charged with corruption, racketeering, fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering in relation to a multi-billion-dollar arms deal the South African government signed with a French arms manufacturer in 1999, when he was an influential politician on the rise.
Zuma has denied any wrongdoing and his trial, which began in May 2021 but has been held back by multiple legal delays, is due to continue this year.
Zuma has also been accused of corruption while he was president through his relationship with a family of Indian businessmen who authorities say were responsible for defrauding state-owned companies out of billions of dollars and bribing senior politicians.
Neither Zuma nor any other senior figures in his government have been charged over those allegations, angering many South Africans who saw public services like the electricity grid, the postal service and public transport services crumble because of the graft.