July unrest: Looter sentenced to eight years in jail

A KwaZulu-Natal man who was part of the July unrest in the province has been sentenced to eight years in jail.

Njabulo Ncube appeared in the Durban Regional Court on Wednesday.

He was convicted of housebreaking with intent to steal and theft.

The regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said during the public violence and looting that took place in KZN last year, Ncube and a group of others broke into a shop in the Umbilo area and stole groceries.

“They were arrested by members of the police who were passing by. In court, Ncube conceded that he had no means to compensate for the R27 000 damages or to pay a fine. He was thus sentenced.

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“The matter was successfully finalised by Regional Court Prosecutors – Kuveshni Pillay and Thami Njapha,” said Kara.

Meanwhile, 37 July unrest instigators will be back in the dock in November 2022.

They appeared in the Durban Magistrates’ Court last week.

During the previous appearance, 35 accused were in court but two more were added, bringing the group’s total to 37.

More than 350 people were killed during the July unrest.

The anarchy was triggered by the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma, who was in contempt of a court order.

While many have welcomed the arrest of the additional suspects who caused anarchy in the country, questions have been raised about why Zuma’s son, Duduzane, and his sister have not been arrested for inciting violence.

Following the events in the aftermath of Zuma’s arrest, Duduzane appeared in a video in which he encouraged looters to steal responsibly.

“The people that are protesting and looting, please do so carefully and please do so responsibly,” he said at the time.

In the video that was shared on the Instagram page of his close associate Winston Innes, Duduzane said death, destruction, vandalism and threats were not the solution, adding that ways had to be found to deal with the situation, which was spiralling out of control.

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