The Durban High Court has dismissed an application by Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former South African president Jacob Zuma, to have terrorism-related charges against her withdrawn.
The case has been postponed until May 2027, with Zuma-Sambudla remaining out on a warning, state broadcaster SABC reported.
She faces charges of incitement to commit terrorism and public violence over social media posts allegedly linked to the deadly July 2021 unrest.
Prosecutors allege that Zuma-Sambudla played a role in encouraging the violence through repeated posts and images of protesters during the unrest, which she denies.
Counter-argument
The defence, led by Advocate Dali Mpofu, argued that the state had failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish the elements of the charges. Mpofu also questioned whether her social media posts amounted to unlawful incitement and alleged that she was being targeted because of her surname.
State prosecutor Advocate Mayen Naidoo maintained that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence, arguing that the frequency of the posts and the language used could be interpreted as encouraging violence.
The court reserved judgment until November 6 after hearing arguments from both sides.
The charges stem from unrest in July 2021, which erupted after Jacob Zuma was jailed for failing to appear before a commission investigating alleged corruption during his presidency, which Zuma denies.
The protests, which included looting and arson across parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, left more than 300 people dead and caused an estimated $2.8 billion in damage, according to official figures.
