State banks on cellphone expert to link Zuma-Sambudla to 'inciteful' posts

THE next state witness in the ongoing trial of Umkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) member of Parliament, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is expected to clarify whether she was working with the individuals who were part of 164 WhatsApp groups responsible for social media content related to the deadly July unrest.

After wrapping up his re-examination of State witness, Sara-Jane Trent on Wednesday, State prosecutor Advocate Yuri Gangai said his third witness was an expert in downloading cellphone material.

The expert will testify on the phone numbers, where Zuma- Sambudla obtained images she posted during the unrest. This will prove whether someone supplied her with the images or whether she simply shared what was already trending, as her legal team argued.

In earlier testimony by the two previous witnesses, the State conceded that Zuma-Sambudla was not part of any organised groups, however, it remained unclear who was supplying her with the images she posted.

Wrapping up his cross-examination of Trent, Advocate Dali Mpofu for Zuma-Sambudla's asked the court to dismiss the witness’ testimony as 'fabricated and politically motivated'. 

Trent, a lawyer by profession, had previously worked with private forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan. They both ran a non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Forensics for Justice. Trent lodged a criminal complaint against Zuma-Sambudla towards the end of the deadly 2021 unrest.

Mpofu challenged all fifteen images in Trent’s statement, saying there was no proof that by sharing images of burning trucks his client encouraged people to burn more trucks.

Mpofu argued that even messages where Zuma-Sambudla wrote '#freeJacobZuma' was understandable because she wanted her father to be released from prison.

Trent agreed with this.

The daughter of former president Jacob Zuma faces three counts of incitement to commit terrorism and two counts of incitement to commit public violence.

The State alleges that her social media posts during that period encouraged violent acts that led to the destruction of property, disruption of essential services, and widespread economic losses. 

The matter was adjourned to Monday.

Cape Times