A South African court has sentenced a man to 12 years in prison in the first conviction of an alleged mastermind of riots that left hundreds dead in 2021, prosecutors said Wednesday.
More than 350 people were killed during nearly ten days of unrest that followed the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma in July 2021.
Mdumiseni Zuma, 36, who is not related to the former head of state, was found guilty of inciting public violence through social media, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.
“This is the first conviction where a person has been convicted of inciting riots,” NPA spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said.
“We hope this sentence acts as a deterrent to others who intend to engage in similar offences.”
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Zuma’s conviction was based on a video shared on Whatsapp in which the man allegedly called on people to loot a shopping center in the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg.
The mall eventually burned to the ground, with its manager telling the court the fire and looting caused about 500 million rand ($27 million) in damage, according to the NPA.
The unrest erupted after Zuma, the former president, was jailed for contempt over his refusal to testify before a commission investigating state corruption during his presidency.
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Groups in his home region of KwaZulu-Natal and Johannesburg occupied dozens of shopping centers and warehouses, removing flat-screen televisions, refrigerators, leather sofas and cartons of fresh meat.
Dozens of people have been convicted of the violence, but so far no one has been convicted of incitement.
The perceived lack of progress in bringing the perpetrators to justice has caused frustration for the victims’ relatives and many others across the country.
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An inquiry report published last year said that while the riots were largely organized by protesters on social media, the masterminds remained “largely impersonal”.
The trial of another 65 alleged rioters is expected to resume in January, the NPA said.
ub/cw