Sameera Casmod | sameeracasmod@radioislam.co.za
25 July 2023 | 11:23am SAST
2 min read

Picture: The Witness
Mdumiseni Zuma is accused of violating the Riotous Assemblies Act on two counts, which include encouraging rioting and arson.

The trial of the man allegedly accused to be one of the inciters of the fire at Brookside Mall during the July 2021 unrest commenced on Monday, 24 July 2023. The trial is scheduled to take place until Friday, 28 July 2023. The accusations concern the looting incidents that took place in KwaZulu-Natal in July 2021, including the burning of the Brookside Mall and two counts of inciting public disorder and arson.

Before summoning witnesses to the stand during the court hearings, the state played a video of a man thought to be Zuma. The cellphone video contains footage of a man walking inside the Brookside Mall. The man in the video was dressed in a white Fabiani T-shirt, white cap and a red face mask, according to a report on The Witness.

The man is recorded to have said in isiZulu: “Well, comrades as you had sent me. Can you see how quiet the mall is? They have closed at Brookside. If they dare open, we will arrive at 6 in the morning to check if they have opened. If they are open, we are going to destroy here. We are going to cause destruction here. We do not want any person … working tomorrow”.

The date on the footage is Monday, 12 July 2021, one day before Brookside Mall was set alight.

Witnesses were called to the stand to discuss the context of the video. Khulekani Mzozo, a state witness, interpreted the video in court yesterday, saying that the subject in the video was continuing a conversation that had started before the video was taken. He said that it appeared from the video that the man expressed a commitment to take action if events did not proceed as expected. He further observed that the language use indicated potential devastation and property damage. Mzozo was asked by Clive Turton, Zuma’s lawyer, if there was another way in which the message in the video could be interpreted. Mzozo asserted that the speech on the video was uncomplicated and that no alternative translation could be used.

Lawyer for the defence suggested there is another English translation of the isiZulu words that were used in the video.

Colonel Mlungisi Cyril Sibisi, another state witness, was also asked to translate the video into English. Not only did he translate the message in the same way as Mzozo, but gave a similar interpretation, saying that the man in the video was inciting people to violence.

A video was also presented by the state that places Zuma at Brookside Mall on the evening of July 11, 2021. The case is proceeding today.

Source: The Witness