The legal expert on the use of social media, Mrs. Emma Sadleir, has stated that the daughter of MKP leader, Mr. Jacob Zuma, Mrs. Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, had been inciting violence during the 2021 riots.
We said this yesterday, when we testified at the High Court in Durban, where Mrs Zuma-Sambudla, Advocate Dali Mpofu, complained that the expert is testifying without a proper report, called an expert report.
The expert was being interrogated with his testimony that he presented earlier, that he collected on the X forum, and wrote a memorandum about what he found. He then offered his opinion on Mrs Zuma-Sambudla’s behaviour.
Mrs. Sadleir told the court that the document she used to present her testimony was a memorandum, not an expert report. He said this happened because the Hawks came to him to tell him that they needed to analyze what was written on social media, they did not come back to tell him to compile the report because he will be a witness in court. He said that when he was summoned to court, he was forced to testify using what he had written in the memorandum.
He said there were two cases of the Hawks unit that they said they wanted to help them with; the first is for those who instigated violence using the WhatsApp communication platform, and the second is for the defendant (Mrs. Zuma-Sambudla).
He said that after putting together his memorandum that was in line with his opinion that there is a case that the defendant should answer in court, he then sent it to the Hawks. Throwing questions at Mpofu, he said they frowned at his presentation of evidence without an expert report.
“Do you agree that the document in which you testified is not an expert report but a memorandum? We will suggest that your testimony be dismissed because the court cannot listen to the testimony of an expert without a report,” said Mpofu.
Mrs. Sadleir replied that the fact that her testimony was silent without a report, does not change the authenticity of what she found as an expert. He added that even if he had compiled the report that Mpofu asked him about, he would have taken what he wrote in the memorandum and pasted it where he was going to write the report.
He said he did not know the reason why the Hawks did not come back to him to tell him to compile the expert’s report.
Clarifying what he said he found, he said it was 2 tweets that Mrs. Zuma-Sambudla posted on her page within 36 hours of her father’s arrest.
Among them, he said there was one that said “Siyanyabona” (“we see you”), which he said was mentioning different places where violence had broken out. Mrs. Sadleir said that in her analysis, this showed that she is inciting violence, it shows happiness, admiration and gratitude.
He said that the page of a person like Mrs. Zuma-Sambudla is considered to have an impact on people as it has more than 360,000 followers. He also pointed out that he is a famous person, who was born to a former president, which also affects the fact that what he says on social media, is listened to by many people. He pointed out that this was also seen in the number of people who reposted what he had posted on his platform on their pages.
Judge Mr. Mbuzeni Mathenjwa, adjourned the case for today, so that a new witness can be brought.
Mrs. Zuma-Sambudla, was all dripping in her black suit, with her black high-top shoes. He looked relaxed, and when a break was taken, he was seen shaking hands with MKP members who were supporting him, and taking pictures with those who wanted to take pictures with him. Among those who came to support him was MKP member of Parliament, Mr. Vusi Shongwe.