South Africa

JULY 2021 RIOTS

KZN prosecution drive heats up with arrest of eight more public violence suspects

KZN prosecution drive heats up with arrest of eight more public violence suspects
Smoke rises from a Makro building set on fire overnight in Umhlanga, north of Durban, on July 13, 2021 as several shops, businesses and infrastructure are damaged in the city, following four nights of continued violence and looting sparked by the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma. - The unrest erupted last on July 9 after Zuma started serving a 15-month term for snubbing a probe into the corruption that stained his nine years in power. In a nationwide address , current President Ramaphosa lashed "opportunistic acts of criminality, with groups of people instigating chaos merely as a cover for looting and theft." (Photo: RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)

More arrests have been made in connection with the July 2021 insurrection, bringing the total number of alleged instigators implicated in the matter to 34.

On Thursday, 18 August, eight more suspects appeared briefly in the Durban Magistrates’ Court. Lihle Charmaine Mnguni, Jabulani Radebe, Swelihle Prudence Shembe, Sethembile Precious Sithole, Philisiwe Precious Zungu, Psychology Fika Malope, Nhlanhla Leonard Ndlovu and Siyabonga Percival ShanduThey were all arrested on the same day.

Their arrests come a week after the Hawks warned that more arrests were imminent. It was the eight accused’s first appearance on charges of conspiracy to commit public violence, incitement of public violence, and arson.

The charges relate to the acts of looting and public violence that took place in parts of Kwazulu-Natal on the night of 8 July, just hours after former president Jacob Zuma was jailed in Estcourt for contempt of court.

Read in Daily Maverick: “Police have identified 84 suspects from various provinces, according to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, with the remainder expected to be arrested in the coming days.”

National Prosecuting Authority KZN Regional spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara confirmed that bail was set at R3,000 each for the eight accused with strict conditions.


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“They are not to post any information regarding the case on social media, to inform the investigating officer should they wish to leave KZN and inform the investigating officer, should they change their residential address and or their contact number,” Ramkisson-Kara said.

Read in Daily Maverick: “Despite these arrests businesses and communities still struggle to recover from July 2021 while alerts issued to avoid another insurrection.”

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, was not among the newly arrested.

At the time of the unrest, Zuma-Sambudla flung out a number of tweets that appeared to be intended to provoke the thousands of criminals that took to the streets of KwaZulu-Natal, and to a lesser extent Gauteng, following the arrest of her father on contempt of court charges.

The matter has been remanded to 26 August for further investigation. DM

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Comments - Please in order to comment.

  • Chris Green says:

    DM: please let’s stick with insurrection and attempted coup. As one of thousands very close to the action, the word unrest is woefully inadequate. It equates to saying that apartheid was unfortunate and that Holocaust victims were limited to criminals. Thanks for the update and hopefully the ring-leaders will be next.

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