BONGANI HANS
UMKHONTO Wesizwe Party (MKP) leader in KwaZulu-Natal Willies Mchunu has called on party members to come out in numbers to support Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla MP when she appears at the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Thursday to face charges for her alleged involvement in the July 2021 riots.
While some members of the public took to social media to call for Zuma-Sambudla to face the music for her alleged role in instigating the violence that was linked to the incarceration of her father and former president Jacob Zuma, Mchunu, the MKP convenor, described her as a senior party leader who deserved support.
In July 2021, the country was hit by violent protests and looting following the arrest of Zuma who had been arrested for contempt of court and handed a 15-month sentence after he defied an order of the Constitutional Court that he appear before the State Capture Commission.
The Human Rights Commission launched an investigation following extensive damage to businesses in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Zuma-Sambudla was not arrested in a mass operation by the Hawks in 2022 but former Ukhozi FM DJ Ngizwe Mchunu and MKP youth activist Bonginkosi Khanyile were charged with instigating the riots.
Khanyile who will be back at the magistrate’s court on 25 March was arrested in August 2021 and released on R5 000 bail in November 2021.
The MKP has also taken to social media inviting people to go to court in huge numbers to support Zuma-Sambudla.
“There is no way we cannot support her since she is our MP and the leader of our national high command,” said Mchunu.
Zuma-Sambudla was in November elected the new chairperson of the Southern Caucus of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), beating ANC MPL Mdumiseni Ntuli with 12 votes.
Mchunu said he could not confirm which senior MKP leaders will be court on Thursday to support Zuma-Sambudla but that the party’s eThekwini region would mobilise support for her.
He said the Moses Mabhida Region would also focus on mobilising support for Ithala Bank outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday - the South African Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority has made an application to provisionally liquidate the bank.
It remained unclear what charges were laid against Zuma-Sambudla as the National Prosecuting Authority’s KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara and her national counterpart Mthunzi Mhaga did not respond to questions sent to them. It was also not clear how many other people were still facing charges for allegedly instigating the violence.
When asked if supporting Zuma-Sambudla did not risk giving the impression that the MKP was promoting criminality and public violence, Mchunu said those who believed this were free to express their views as they “have freedom of thought and expression.”
“We are clear that we support our national high command leader who represents us in the national assembly and who represents South Africa in the Pan-African Parliament.
“You can see that the status of this person is not small,” said Mchunu.
The violence in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng started after Zuma succumbed to pressure to hand himself to the police who escorted him on July 7, 2021, to serve a 15-month sentence at Estcourt Prison for defying the Constitutional Court order that he should appear at the Chief Justice Zondo-led inquiry.
Before and after Zuma’s incarceration, a group of his supporters took to social media and public platforms expressing views that were later seen as an instigation of violence.
It was reported that the country’s economy lost R50 billion when businesses, including shopping centres, were looted and reduced to ash in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
A senior MKP provincial leader, who asked to remain anonymous, questioned why Zuma-Sambudla had only been charged now for incidents that occurred three years ago.
“Charging her now after she was recently elected as chairperson of the Pan-African Parliament is an attempt to tarnish her name,” the leader said.
Khanyile said a crowd had been mobilised in Durban to go to court to support Zuma-Sambudla.
He said he was only aware of 13 people, including himself, who had been charged in connection with the incidents.