Jacob Zuma's daughter denies terrorism charges as her trial starts

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has said the state's case against her is weak

The daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma has pleaded not guilty to terrorism-related charges at the start of her trial in the port city of Durban.

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is being prosecuted over comments she made on social media four years ago during deadly protests in South Africa following the arrest of her father.

A week of anarchy in several parts of the country in July 2021, including looting and arson, left at least 300 people dead and caused damage worth an estimated $2.8bn (£2.2bn).

Zuma-Sambudla, 43, has been accused of fuelling this unrest and faces charges of incitement to commit terrorism and public violence.

The protests were concentrated in the provinces of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and followed the former president's arrest for disobeying a court order to testify at an inquiry into allegations of corruption while he was in power.

Ms Zuma-Sambudla has always denied the charges against her, with her lawyer previously labelling the state's case as weak.

She has also repeatedly said the charges against her were an attempt to settle political scores with her father after he started his own political party and campaigned against the African National Congress (ANC).

This was echoed by the Jacob Zuma foundation, which said the case was an "abuse of power" and a "systematic campaign of political and familial harassment" against the former president and his family.

A handful of supporters from her party, uMkhonto weSizwe, turned up outside the KwaZulu-Natal high court, while her father and other party leaders attended the hearings inside.

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