--- title: "Police officer among the 62 facing trial over the July 2021 unrest" description: "The trial of 62 accused for the July 2021 unrest, including police officer Menzi Blose, reveals troubling insights into the coordination behind the violence that shook South Africa." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "Maverick News" author: "Vincent Cruywagen" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/vincent-cruywagen-2/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-21-police-officer-among-the-62-facing-trial-over-the-july-2021-unrest/" published: "2026-07-21T22:28:15" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 1622 --- # Police officer among the 62 facing trial over the July 2021 unrest > The trial of 62 accused for the July 2021 unrest, including police officer Menzi Blose, reveals troubling insights into the coordination behind the violence that shook South Africa. By Vincent Cruywagen · Published 22 July 2026, 00:28 SAST ## Key points - Sixty-two people, including police officer Menzi Blose, face serious charges relating to the July 2021 unrest in South Africa, highlighting a complex web of alleged conspiracy and violence. - The trial is set against the backdrop of escalating violence and looting that resulted in more than 350 deaths and significant economic damage, transforming public protests into widespread chaos. - The prosecution contends this unrest was not spontaneous, but orchestrated through political and civic collaborations, underscoring the interconnectedness of various spheres. - Proceedings have been postponed for 12 accused to secure legal representation. ## Content Sergeant Menzi Blose, attached to Mariannhill police station in KwaZulu-Natal, is among 62 people accused of instigating deadly July 2021 unrest. His inclusion adds a troubling dimension to a prosecution centred on allegations of a coordinated campaign to instigate violence, looting and widespread destruction. The State’s case draws a mix of alleged political organisers, activists, supporters and, significantly, a serving suspended police officer. ![Police try to control looting during protests in Durban on 12 July 2021. Former South Africa President Zuma was arrested on 7 July, and sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court. Protests by his supporters have included shops being looted, burnt cars and the blocking of city streets. (Photo: EPA-EFE / STR)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/bFt2dvW13QOLEbr7LPQQTdnuZSk=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/KZN-Riots-OneYear_17.jpg) *Police try to control looting during protests in Durban on 12 July 2021. (Photo: EPA-EFE / STR)* At the time of his arrest in August 2022, Blose was attached to Public Order Policing, the unit responsible for responding to public disorder and violence. He was released on R3,000 bail at Durban Magistrates’ Court on 15 August 2022. His alleged involvement raises uncomfortable questions: what did he know, what role did he allegedly play, and whether those entrusted with maintaining law and order were, in some instances, connected to efforts that helped undermine it. ### ‘More than spontaneous anger’ The breadth of those charged underscores the prosecution’s contention that the unrest was not merely a spontaneous eruption of public anger, but the product of an alleged conspiracy that cut across political, civic and institutional spheres. On Monday, 20 July, nearly five years after South Africa’s deadliest unrest in the democratic era, 62 accused appeared in the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court in Durban to face terrorism, sedition and insurrection-related charges. Led by alleged instigator Gods Surprise Ntuli (48), the State alleges that the 62 accused acted in common purpose to organise, incite and coordinate aspects of the unrest. They face charges including terrorism and insurrection linked to the eight days of violence that shook KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng in July 2021. [WHEELS OF JUSTICE WhatsApp, terror and Zondo — July 2021 unrest accused finally face trial July 19, 2026 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/e7nGZ6UChESh7ZKiKNJDaB6iZyI=/450x0/smart/file/attachments/orphans/ferial-andy_649260.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-19-whatsapp-terror-and-zondo-july-2021-unrest-accused-finally-face-trial/) However, the matter was postponed to allow the 12 accused to resolve issues over their legal representation. The delay may give them time to secure a proper legal footing from which to challenge the State’s case. But it does not remove the central question hanging over the trial: what role did each of the accused allegedly play in the events that brought parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng to a standstill? Former President Jacob Zuma was jailed for less than two months and released on a [dodgy](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-09-07-jacob-zuma-needed-to-have-met-these-medical-conditions-to-get-medical-parole-did-he/) medical parole decision that was later [overturned](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-12-15-back-to-jail-ruling-frasers-decision-to-grant-zuma-parole-was-an-unlawful-intervention-that-undermined-respect-for-sas-courts/) in court. But President Cyril Ramaphosa then passed a “special remission” in August 2023 to prevent prison overcrowding, from which the former head of state (capture) benefited. This triggered a campaign by his supporters to secure his release. What began amid protests over the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma rapidly escalated into widespread looting, arson and violence. It resulted in more than 350 deaths and caused between R35-billion and R50-billion in economic damage. The violence saw widespread looting of more than 200 shopping centres and significant infrastructure damage in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. [SAHRC HEARINGS July riots left 2m jobless, wiped R50bn from economy, says Ramaphosa April 1, 2022 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/cns3TtFd1noKcaOr-noUU57Ja8g=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Des-CR-julyriots1.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-04-01-cyril-ramaphosa-attempted-july-insurrection-left-2-million-jobless-and-wiped-r50bn-from-the-economy/) ### **Two July unrest trials, one unresolved question** ![Naledi-MK-DuduZuma](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/ozzaCLOODAXQcaSMJU5BAWQkLEc=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/ED_544320_981375.jpg) *Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla at Durban Magistrate’s Court on 30 January 2025. Zuma-Sambudla faces charges related to the July 2021 unrest that followed former president Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment for contempt of court, which led to more than 350 fatalities. (Photo: Gallo Images / Darren Stewart)* The trial of the 62 accused is separate from that of Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, who is facing her own criminal trial in the Durban high court. Zuma-Sambudla pleaded not guilty in November 2025 to one count of incitement to commit terrorism and two counts of incitement to commit public violence arising from social media posts made during the July 2021 unrest. She is charged under the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act. Her trial has placed the meaning and context of those posts at the centre of the case. The State alleges that they helped encourage and amplify the violence, while the defence argues that they reflected widespread anger, poverty and frustration rather than an intention to incite criminal conduct. The central legal contest is whether the State can prove the necessary causal link between her alleged online conduct and the violence that followed. Zuma-Sambudla’s matter was adjourned to 13 August 2026, with the defence seeking to recall key witnesses. **Read more:**[Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla was on authorities’ radar long before July 2021 riots, court hears](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-11-10-duduzile-zuma-sambudla-was-on-authorities-radar-long-before-july-2021-riots-court-hears/) ### **Some of the key alleged instigators** The case against the 62 accused in the other case extends beyond anonymous online participants and people caught up in street violence. It reaches into political structures, student activism and the police service, bringing together figures who, at the time, occupied very different positions of influence. At the centre of the State’s case is Gods Surprise Ntuli, 48, the alleged lead accused. He was among the first group of suspects arrested in August 2022. The State alleges that Ntuli and the other accused acted in concert to organise, incite and coordinate public violence during the July 2021 unrest. Among the most recognisable political figures in the case is Bonginkosi Khanyile, a prominent #FeesMustFall activist who later moved into politics. Khanyile was arrested in September 2016 during running battles between police and students at Durban University of Technology at the height of the FeesMustFall protests. His detention became a cause célèbre, with the State eventually agreeing to his release on bail after his case drew attention, including during proceedings in the Constitutional Court. **Read more:**[Bonginkosi Khanyile: Free, in an unfree system](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-03-01-bonginkosi-khanyile-free-in-an-unfree-system/) In August 2018, Khanyile pleaded guilty in the Durban Regional Court to public violence, possession of a dangerous weapon and two counts of failing to comply with police instructions. The charges arose from his arrest during the 2016 student protests. In January 2019, he was sentenced to three years of correctional supervision. The sentence effectively placed him under house arrest, although the court allowed him to leave home to attend university classes. He was also ordered to pay a R5,000 fine, perform community service and attend life-skills and anger-management programmes. That conviction is a separate matter from the July 2021 unrest case. In the current prosecution, the State alleges that Khanyile was involved in efforts to mobilise support for the release of former president Jacob Zuma after his imprisonment for contempt of court. Sanel Masuku is another accused whose political position at the time attracted attention. Masuku was arrested on 12 August 2022 in the KwaDlangezwa area near the University of Zululand. His arrest drew particular interest because he was an ANC Youth League regional spokesperson and a senior official in the Musa Dladla region, covering areas such as Richards Bay and Empangeni in KwaZulu-Natal. His position placed him among the politically connected figures swept into the State’s wider prosecution of alleged July unrest instigators. The range of accused is significant. The State’s case does not focus solely on those allegedly involved in the physical destruction that followed. It also seeks to establish whether individuals with political platforms, activist networks or institutional access helped create the momentum that turned anger over Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment into widespread unrest. ### **Contrasting sentences** One of the most striking sentences arising from the July 2021 unrest was handed down to Mbuso Moloi, whose case became emblematic of the looting that swept through KwaZulu-Natal. At the height of the unrest, cellphone footage showed Moloi leaving a Woolworths outlet in Glenwood, Durban, carrying a basket of goods he had allegedly not paid for before returning to a luxury Mercedes-Benz. The footage quickly earned Moloi the nickname “the Woolies looter”. In July 2023,[Moloi was sentenced](https://www.ewn.co.za/2023/07/07/woolies-looter-mbuso-moloi-sentenced-to-18-months-under-house-arrest-1) to three years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years. By contrast, Mdumiseni Khetha Zuma is serving an effective 12-year prison sentence after his conviction in November 2023 for inciting public violence linked to the looting and burning of Pietermaritzburg’s Brookside Mall. The conviction followed a video he created and circulated on social media, warning that the mall would be closed on the evening of 11 July 2021 and that people would enter and destroy it if it reopened the following morning. Brookside Mall was extensively looted and torched on 12 July. **Read more:**[July 2021 unrest instigator Mdumiseni Khetha Zuma sentenced to 12 years in jail](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-11-29-july-2021-unrest-instigator-mdumiseni-khetha-zuma-sentenced-to-12-years-in-jail/) Others convicted for offences arising from the unrest include: - In June 2023,[convicted looters were sentenced](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-08-24-july-2021-kwazulu-natal-looters-sentenced-to-5-10-years-in-jail-for-stealing-meat/) in the Durban Regional Court to 5-10 years in jail after being found in possession during the riots of meat in a bakkie in Chesterville worth about R80,000. The meat had allegedly been stolen from Ayoba Cold Storage, which stored meat imported from Brazil. - In August 2022, Sihle Jali and Sifiso Ngcobo were [sentenced](https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/july-unrest-house-arrest-and-community-service-for-woolies-looter-20230707) to five years in prison after being convicted of breaking into a shop in Durban’s Greenwood Park and stealing goods. - [In September 2022](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-08-24-july-2021-kwazulu-natal-looters-sentenced-to-5-10-years-in-jail-for-stealing-meat/), Njabulo Ncube was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment after being convicted of theft following a break-in at a shop in Umbilo, where he stole groceries. ### **Why the trial was postponed** According to Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, the National Prosecuting Authority’s spokesperson and regional communications manager in KwaZulu-Natal, several accused were without legal representation after their attorneys withdrew from the matter earlier on Monday. The court ordered the affected accused to apply for legal aid immediately after the adjournment. The postponement came despite the State telling the court that it was ready to proceed and had five witnesses available to testify. For now, however, the case remains stuck at a preliminary hurdle: ensuring that every accused has legal representation before the trial can begin. The matter was postponed to 27 July 2026, when Legal Aid is expected to update the court on progress in appointing legal representatives for the accused. **DM**