July unrest instigator slapped with 12-year sentence

In September, Zuma was convicted on charges of committing public violence and incitement to commit arson.

The charges are linked to the widespread looting and destruction that occurred at the Pietermaritzburg Brookside Shopping Mall during the unrest.

At the time of the incident, Zuma served as a security guard at the mall.

The thirty-six-year-old's guilty verdict followed a trial that shed light on his role in the turmoil.

During his testimony, Zuma admitted to recording a video encouraging people to participate in the looting, but he claimed it was a prank and insisted that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

Speaking to the SABC, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Natasha Kara said this was the first case in KwaZulu-Natal where somebody has been convicted and sentenced for inciting people to commit public violence.

"When the state put its best case forward, that was all in terms of the evidence that we submitted before the court. The state was confident, but we were also alleging, and we maintained that the offences were serious and we wanted the sentence to be in keeping with that.

"The state-led video footage as well as audio clips and those spoke for themselves because you could see the individual on the footage and the state further asked for the translation of the audio clips which were comments of incitement."

She said four years of his sentence had been suspended.

"For count one, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, and of that, two years were suspended for a period of five years on condition that he is not convicted of the same offence during the period of suspension.

"For the second count, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment. Of those, two years will run concurrently with those of count one.”

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