Malema wants to help July unrest instigator sentenced to 12 years in jail

EFF leader Julius Malema is looking at how he can assist Mdumiseni Zuma, who was sentenced to 12 years in jail after he was found guilty of instigating unrest which led to the Brookside Mall in Pietermaritzburg being torched during the July 2021 riots. 

Zuma, a former security guard at the mall, was sentenced by the Pietermaritzburg regional court on Wednesday on charges of contravening the Riotous Assemblies Act, including inciting public violence and arson. He pleaded not guilty on both charges.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said Zuma incited violence by making a video which the state believes led to the Brookside Mall being looted and set alight. The state argued Zuma recorded the video at the mall and trended on social media, leading to the mall being torched the next day.

“Representing the state, senior state advocate Yuri Gangai led the evidence of video footage, audio clips and the testimony of a guard who worked at the mall. Gangai further led the evidence of two experts who translated the audio clips,” Ramkisson-Kara said. 

She said the estimated damage caused by the looting and fire was about R500m and affected thousands of community members. 

 “Zuma was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for count 1 [two years of which are suspended for five years on condition  he is not convicted of the same offence]. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment [two years of which are to run concurrently with count 1]. This results in the effective sentence of 12 years direct imprisonment,” she said. 

Reacting to the sentencing, Malema said he believed Zuma did not have a good legal representative during the trial and he would see how the party can assist.

“I don't think the so-called July 2021 instigator Mdumiseni Zuma got proper legal representation. I've since asked our KZN chair [Mongezi Twala] to get the facts and how we can be of assistance,” Malema said.