The daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, has been arrested over her alleged involvement in the 2021 riots that left over 300 people dead, police say.
Violence, chaos, and fear ripped through the port city of Durban, then spread to Gauteng, after Zuma’s jailing sparked intense protests over four years ago.
Zuma-Sambudla, a controversial figure in her own right, was accused of sharing incendiary social media posts that fuelled the civil unrest.
The arrest comes as a “result of a meticulous investigation” said spokesperson for the Hawks elite police unit, Brig Thandi Mbambo.
Zuma-Sambudla handed herself in to Durban Central police station on Thursday morning to face charges under the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act and incitement to commit violence, police said.
Her father’s party uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK), of which she is a senior member, confirmed her court appearance and urged supporters to “mobilize all ground forces to attend in numbers.”
While she has not commented directly on the charges, Zuma-Sambudla shared a cryptic note on X that simply said: “We see you.”
MK party spokesperson Nhlamule Ndhela told local broadcaster ENCA she had long been preparing for this moment
“She conditioned herself, because there have been many threats about her imminent arrest for the past three or four years,” he said.
He added that she will abide by the law as “a law-abiding citizen”.
This is not the first time her name has been brought up in connection to the 2021 riots, which are considered one of the bloodiest episodes in post-apartheid South Africa.
Zuma resigned as president in 2018 after nine years in office, plagued by corruption allegations, which he claimed were part of a political conspiracy.
Three years later, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court after refusing to testify before a panel investigating corruption under his presidency.
Protests erupted after he surrendered to serve his sentence.
During the unrest, Zuma-Sambudla was outspoken on X, frequently sharing images of the destruction and chaos, accompanied by the caption: “KZN, we see you.”
She used this phrase often throughout the violence. In a now deleted post, she shared a video of someone firing an automatic rifle at a poster of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In 2022, Brig Mbambo , told local media they were not directly investigating her, but she had been named in statements from sources.
In response to this, Zuma-Sambudla said on X, “I have no fear! I will not be intimidated! I have beaten the dogs, now the masters are coming out! We see you!”
At the same time, the Jacob Zuma Foundation, said in a statement the former president’s children were being targeted.
Last year, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) released a report that said the riots were a “carefully orchestrated event”.
But it said it could find no direct link to Zuma’s arrest.
In 2023, a former security guard was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the deadly riots.
He was the first person to be prosecuted for the riots.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who succeeded Jacob Zuma in 2018, described the violence as an “attempted insurrection”.
More than 200 shopping malls were looted and more than 150,000 jobs were estimated to have been lost during the unrest, which lasted for several days.
Last year, Zuma’s MK ran against his former party, the ANC, in elections, gaining 15% of the vote to become the country’s third largest party.
