July Unrest: Former Security Guard Convicted for Inciting Brookside Mall Looting, Mzansi Wants More Arrests

• Mdumiseni Zuma, a former security guard, has been convicted of inciting violence during the July 2021 unrest
• Zuma posted a video on social media in which he encouraged people to head to the mall to loot
• South Africans are happy about the conviction and hope more people will be held accountable

PIETERMARITZBURG - A former security guard who was accused of telling people to head to Brookside Mall in Pietermaritzburg to loot has been convicted.

Mdumiseni Zuma was accused of inciting violence during the July unrest in 2021 after former President Jacob Zuma handed himself over at the Estcourt Correctional Service facility to serve his 15-year sentence.

Former security guard pleaded not guilty

According to TimesLIVE, the 36-year-old pleaded not guilty to contravening the Riotous Assemblies Act. He was charged with public violence and arson.

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The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) argued that Zuma filmed himself inside the mall, encouraging people to come to the mall and loot. The following day, scores of people headed to the mall.

Zuma told the court that he was drunk and shot the video as a joke. However, the magistrate did not believe his version of events.

According to eNCA, Zuma was acquitted of the arson charge.

South Africans welcome the sentence

@ThaboShield said:

"I wish this could happen each and every 2 weeks or monthly."

@MtoloSam said:

"I knew it would be difficult to prove the arson case."

@CharIes_Knight said:

"Yes. We love it."

@Dijosti said:

"One of the many people who decided to collect criminal records and career destruction for a former president."

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@wills071 said:

Where's Ivanka Zuma?"

Alleged instigator of KZN and Gauteng riots Ngizwe Mchunu denied bail

Briefly News previously reported that the Randburg Magistrate's Court has denied bail of one of the alleged instigators of violent protests seen in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Ngizwe Mchunu, who is a former Ukhozi FM radio personality, appeared in court for a brief hearing on Wednesday morning, two days after surrendering to Durban police, according to a report by EWN.

According to eNCA, Mchunu's bail was denied because prosecutors believed that he was a flight risk. Mchunu is alleged to have access to a private jet which he used to travel between Gauteng and Durban as soon as he realised that the police were looking for him in connection to his "self-styled state of the nation addresses"

Source: Briefly News