The Duduzile Zuma Sambudla trial resumes today in the KwaZulu Natal High Court, where digital evidence expert Emma Sadleir is expected to continue her testimony on the role of social media in the July 2021 unrest.
Proceedings will be streamed live.
Sadleir told the court on Tuesday that screenshots of Zuma-Sambudla’s tweets were circulated within minutes across three WhatsApp groups that investigators believe played a role in coordinating unrest: Free Zuma coordinators, eThekwini shutdown and INK shutdown.
The court heard that the Hawks tasked Sadleir with analysing both the tweets and the WhatsApp messages.
She said the groups showed signs of coordination, including meeting arrangements and instructions on making explosive devices.
Messages captured from the groups also showed that images and videos shared by Zuma-Sambudla were reposted in the unrest groups on the same morning violence broke out.
Zuma-Sambudla faces charges of incitement linked to posts she made on 9 July 2021, the day unrest erupted after former president Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment.
Sadleir noted that Zuma-Sambudla tweeted at frequent intervals from 07:30 SAST, often using the word “amandla” with fist pump emojis.
A video posted in her fifth tweet was found to have appeared at the same time in the Free Zuma coordinators group.
Sadleir told the court that despite these overlaps, Zuma-Sambudla could not control who took screenshots of her content.
One group participant responded to a screenshot of her tweet with the comment “akushe” meaning “let it burn”, accompanied by emojis.
She also testified that some of the video clips posted by Zuma-Sambudla during the unrest were old footage unrelated to events unfolding at the time.
Her testimony will continue today, with the court expected to examine how investigators linked the posts, the timing of their circulation and the structure of the WhatsApp groups under review.
The live stream of today’s proceedings appears below.
Readers are advised to refresh this page shortly before the trial resumes to load the stream correctly.
