Duduzane Zuma in court on charges of culpable homicide and reckless and negligent driving
Duduzane Zuma, son of former President Jacob Zuma, appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on 26 March 2019 on a charge of culpable homicide and a charge of reckless and negligent driving.
The state withdrew a second charge of culpable homicide after a report from a pathologist indicated that a second victim died of natural causes.
Elias Maangwale, Senior Investigator at AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, accompanied and assisted the Dube family – Edina Dube (mother) and Pedzisane Dube (brother of the deceased) – during the court proceedings.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) initially decided not to prosecute Zuma Jr in connection with a car accident on 1 February 2014 on the M1 highway in Gauteng – in which Mekelina Dube, a young female passenger, died on impact. After AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit applied to privately prosecute Zuma Jr the NPA however decided to overturn its initial decision and instituted prosecution.
Various witnesses – including an employee of the South African Weather Service, a dealer from Porsche Johannesburg, the taxi driver and a passenger – testified.
Duduzane Zuma’s appearance in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court today is not only a victory for the Dube family, Adv. Gerrie Nel and AfriForum, but also for everyone in the country who supports the principle of equality before the law.
According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, the decision to prosecute Zuma Jr is an especially big victory for the Dube family, who can now after more than five years finally watch as justice prevails. Kriel commended the Dube family for being willing to insist on prosecution taking place and indicated that AfriForum will continue to support the family in this case.
“AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit cannot allow persons such as Duduzane Zuma to escape prosecution merely because he is being protected due to political connections. The prosecution unit was established with the purpose of upholding the principle of equality before the law. The fact that Duduzane is finally appearing in court is a victory. We will thoroughly monitor the process to see to it that justice prevails,” says Maangwale.
