The 65 alleged instigators charged in connection with the unrest and public violence that took place in July 2021, are expected to make their first appearance in the Durban High Court on Tuesday morning.
At their last appearance in November, indictments were served on the accused.
The accused face a total of eight charges including terrorism, conspiring the commission of terrorism, sedition, public violence, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit public violence and incitement to commit public violence.
According to the eight page indictment, the accused were disgruntled following the Constitutional Court decision to jail former president Jacob Zuma for a period of 15 months in June 2021.
This was following the proceedings of the State Capture commission which was chaired by Justice Raymond Zondo.
It is alleged that Zuma’s supporters, including the accused, were disgruntled by the Constitutional Court decision and publicly campaigned against his imprisonment through gatherings and social media posts.
The indictments state that WhatsApp groups were created with the intention of organising, planning, inciting and coordinating violent incidents and looting that occurred mainly in KZN and sporadically spread to other parts of the country, with the aim of pressurising the authorities to release Zuma.
It is alleged these WhatsApp groups were called ‘Free Zuma Information’, ‘Ethekwini Shutdown’ and ‘Ink Shutdown’.
On Monday, the South African Human Rights Commission released a report and found the July 2021 unrest was orchestrated by perpetrators who were well resourced.
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