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CREDIBILITY: DEFENCE ARGUES ORIGIN OF X MESSAGES BY MK MP

- Molefe Seeletsa

Advocate Dali Mpofu, representing MK party MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, raised doubts about the credibility of the witness who laid criminal charges against his client in her terrorism-related trial stemming from the July 2021 unrest.

The trial resumed yesterday in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) High Court in Durban. It is scheduled to run until 20 November,

Zuma-Sambudla, daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, faces charges of incitement to commit terrorism and incitement to commit violence related to the July 2021 riots that claimed more than 300 lives and caused billions of rands in damage across KZN and Gauteng.

According to the state, Zuma-Sambudla – who has pleaded not guilty - allegedly used her social media account on X (formerly Twitter) to encourage violence and looting after her father's imprisonment for contempt of a Constitutional Court (ConCourt) order.

During yesterday's proceedings, Mpofu continued cross-examining state witness Sarah-Jane Trent, a fraud examiner from the nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Forensics for Justice, owned by forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan.