Daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, former Umkhonto Wesizwe Party MP, Duduzile Zuma with Adv Dali Mpofu in the Durban High Court.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo/Independent Newspapers
Concerns have been raised by the Durban High Court regarding the appropriateness of the evidence presented by a new State witness in the Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla case linked to the 2021 July unrest.
The witness is a cybersecurity specialist but is offering "linguistic" evidence rather than testifying within his field of expertise.
Phiwa Mzila, who has a Master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Zululand (2006), took the stand and confirmed his expertise in cybersecurity.
However, he stated he was asked to analyze Twitter data, translate any IsiZulu content into English, on the tweets of Zuma-Sambudla, and provide a report based on this analysis, which included a reference to an affidavit from Sarah-Jane Trent.
Mzila, a Zulu-speaking individual who passed high school IsiZulu with a distinction, explained that his task was a direct translation focusing on IsiZulu expressed words, translating them, and giving context according to his understanding in relation to the July unrest events. He confirmed he did not use external documents or platforms for data collection.
In his evidence, Mzila read one of Zuma-Sambudla’s tweets, translating the IsiZulu text: “Iziqhumane zakwaZulu zilindile #Nkandla” to “The explosives of KwaZulu...we are waiting”. He said this phrase could mean that the concerned people are waiting for explosives from KwaZulu.
“There is nothing that says what those explosives are. It can be anything: a gun, a bomb, or even a balloon,” he said.
As Mzila proceeded with his explanation of the word ‘iziqhumane’, Judge Mbuzeni Mathenjwa said he was getting lost and questioned how Mzila’s evidence was going to assist the court.
“How will his evidence assist the court? What authorises him to provide this interpretation to the court? I have no issues with his expertise on cyber issues, but his giving evidence translation is puzzling,” Judge Mathenjwa said.
Senior State prosecutor Advocate Alex Moolman defended the evidence, stating Mzila was not presented as a linguistic expert.
“Social media allows anybody to have access, this witness is an ordinary citizen who would have had access to these tweets and he is interpreting them.”
However, Advocate Dali Mpofu SC, representing Zuma-Sambudla, objected, calling the evidence completely irrelevant unless Mzila testified within his expert field.
“I thought this was a build-up of something. It’s a complete waste of time,” he said.
After Moolman concluded, Mpofu began his cross-examination. Mzila conceded that he could not recall the precise date the July unrest began, only that it was in early July. He also conceded that he had not testified regarding his specific area of expertise.
Judge Mathenjwa then sought clarity from Mzila on his mandate, asking: “What was your scope, what were you required to do?”
Mzila confirmed that he was required to “translate the IsiZulu texts on the tweets in question to English and give context according to his understanding.”
Mpofu indicated to the court that he would be making an application to recall Trent.
“Trent appeared before the Adhoc committee in parliament and among other things she testified about this case what drove her to lay the complaint, and we would like to recall her.”
The trial which got underway on Monday was meant to sit until April 24 however due to the proceedings wrapping up sooner than anticipated, the matter was adjourned to August 13 as a holding date.
Cape Times