A man convicted of inciting violence during the July 2021 unrest in Pietermaritzburg has been sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The convictions relate to the incidents of looting and public violence which occurred in July 2021 in parts of the country, especially KwaZulu-Natal.
Mdumiseni Khetha Zuma, 36, appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court on Wednesday.
He was charged with contravening sections 17 and 18 of the Riotous Assemblies Act, where he incited people to gather and commit public violence.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), this was done by making an inciteful video pertaining to the Brookside Mall and distributing it on WhatsApp.
During this time, the Brookside Mall in Pietermaritzburg was looted and burnt to the ground.
Regional NPA spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said Zuma was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on count one — two years of which are suspended for five years on condition that he was not convicted of the same offence during the period of suspension.
“He was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment (two years of which are to run concurrently with count one).
“This results in the effective sentence of 12 years’ direct imprisonment,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
She said senior State advocate Yuri Gangai led evidence consisting 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.
In aggravation of sentence, Gangai led the testimony of the manager of the mall at the time it was burned. The manager testified that the damages amounted to more than R500 million.
“He further stated that the mall serviced five different communities as well as about 5 000 people who collected their (South African Social Security Agency) Sassa grants there.
They have all been adversely affected by the burning down of the mall,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
She said while the NPA in KZN had finalised several cases in respect of the July 2021 unrest, this was the first conviction where an individual had been convicted and subsequently sentenced for inciting the unrest.
“We hope that this sentence serves as a deterrent to others who intend on engaging in similar offences. We commend the working relationship between the DPCI KZN and the prosecution,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
The Ministry of Police welcomed the sentence.
In a statement, Minister of Police Bheki Cele welcomed the sentence and the detective work that led to the successful prosecution.
“The detective work gives us hope that the outstanding suspects will receive a similar fate, especially with the escalated charges for instigators, and this sentence clearly illustrates that the long arm of the law will not be selective nor will it be kind,” said Cele.
The ministry said as police investigations continued, it expected that more suspects who had a hand in the wanton destruction of property and loss of life during the July unrest would be brought to book.
The Mercury