No Evidence That Duduzile Zuma Funded July 2021 unrest

The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) High Court in Durban was informed that no connection was found between Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and the funding of groups involved in the unrest of July 2021.

The former MP of the MK party appeared in court on Monday, 26 October 2026, as her high-profile trial continued. She faces charges of incitement to commit terrorism and incitement to commit violence linked to the deadly unrest that affected KZN and Gauteng in July 2021.

The upheaval, marked by extensive looting and property destruction, followed her father and former president Jacob Zuma’s incarceration for violating a Constitutional Court (ConCourt) order. The state claims that Zuma-Sambudla’s posts on social media incited individuals to engage in the violence and fueled its escalation.

Colonel Bheki Nazo, who leads the South African Police Service (Saps) KZN’s serious organized crime unit, testified in court that investigators reviewed Zuma-Sambudla’s financial records and cellphone data during their inquiry. Nazo, with 36 years of experience, stated that he was assigned to the case after Sarah-Jane Trent, a forensic examiner who worked for Paul O’Sullivan, filed a complaint.

Subsequently, he requested cellphone records from network service providers and sought financial documents from her bank to ascertain if she had financed groups participating in the unrest.

“[The objective was to investigate] if there were any funds withdrawn from that account supporting the other groups involved in the unrest at that time,” the officer explained.

Nonetheless, the investigation failed to uncover evidence that established the alleged financial connections or communication. “We could not demonstrate the communication between the accused person and those other groups,” Nazo added.

Earlier that day, the court heard from Ellie Khumalo-Simelane, a retired police officer who served 22 years in the Saps.

Khumalo-Simelane retired at the rank of colonel, having worked as a language practitioner and managed language affairs at the police service’s national head office in Pretoria.

She possesses a PhD and focused on English and isiZulu in her academic pursuits. Her professional duties involved translating videos, interpreting isiZulu content into English, and assisting with disciplinary matters concerning police officers.

The former colonel concentrated on the phrase “we see you,” which Zuma-Sambudla frequently used on social media during the unrest. A social media expert who previously testified in the case had interpreted this phrase as a sign that Zuma-Sambudla was promoting the ongoing actions.

However, defense attorney Dali Mpofu countered that the phrase was a literal English translation of the common isiZulu greeting “sawubona.” Khumalo-Simelane provided “siyagubona” or “siyanibona” as alternatives to translate “we see you.”

“There is a distinction if it reads or I say ‘ngiyakubona‘ because this would refer to an individual,” the former police officer explained in court.

Source: https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/courts/duduzile-zuma-sambudla-funded-july-2021-unrest/