NATIONAL NEWS - The Jacob Zuma Foundation believes the former president’s family is being targeted by the state.
Just hours before her appearance at the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban on Monday, the foundation alleged that authorities were after Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla.
She is accused of inciting violence in July 2021, leading to the death of 300 people and billions worth of damage to infrastructure and the economy.
The unrest happened days after her father was arrested for failing to obey orders from the Constitutional Court.
Not guilty
Zuma-Sambudla pleaded not guilty.
“The state’s case against Ms Zuma-Sambudla rests on a bizarre premise: that her social media posts during July 2021 somehow incited unrest.
“In truth, her posts were reactive commentaries to events already unfolding, as millions of South Africans expressed anguish and frustration at the unlawful imprisonment of a liberation hero.
“It defies logic to claim that impoverished communities, many without access to food, smartphones or data, were mobilised into action by Twitter posts,” said the foundation.
Social media posts
The foundation said the use of certain words in Zuma-Sambudla’s tweets at the time of the unrest has been misunderstood.
“The use of liberation-era slogans such as Amandla! and Azishe!, words deeply rooted in South Africa’s struggle history, cannot and must not be perverted into acts of terrorism.
“To criminalise such expressions now is to erase the language of resistance itself and to deny the lived heritage of the liberation struggle.”
The state has argued that Zuma-Sambudla used her social media accounts to encourage looting and violence after her father’s imprisonment.
The father, the son and the daughter
The foundation said this is not the first time that Zuma’s children and close associates have been targeted.
“South Africa has previously witnessed the state’s repeated failures to secure convictions against President Zuma’s son, Mr Duduzane Zuma… each of these cases collapsed under the weight of political motive.
“Having failed to destroy the father and the son, the state has now turned its energies to the daughter, a loyal and outspoken pillar of strength in her father’s life.”
It added, “her only crime is to have publicly expressed solidarity with her father”.
Persecution
The foundation said the alleged ongoing targeting of Zuma’s family forms part of a broader project to erase his contribution to the liberation struggle and humiliate his legacy.
“Instead of acknowledging the public outrage that arose from his unconstitutional incarceration, the State has chosen to demonise those who voiced their discontent.
“This persecution of an 83-year-old statesman through his children is cruel and cowardly. It represents an attempt to break a father by tormenting his offspring, a tactic reminiscent of the oppressive regimes that once targeted the families of liberation fighters to induce silence.”
The Zuma family and politics
Meanwhile, critics have argued that Zuma and his family are not above the law and must be subject to legal processes. They pointed to a recent court judgement that ruled he R28.9 million for legal fees owed to the state. The Jacob G Zuma Foundation described this ruling as “unjust”.
Others have suggested the former president had started the MK party to protect his family.
While Zuma-Sambudla has been criticised inside the MK party for bad behaviour, some analysts believe Zuma will never take action against her because of their closeness.
“This is a Zuma party, and the party’s problem is that it has an unelected leadership, and Zuma’s family members are certainly playing an important role. His daughter and Duduzane Zuma, his son, are involved. It could well be said that there is a kitchen cabinet running the party,” said political analyst Theo Neethling.
Article: Caxton publication, The Citizen
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