| Duduzane Zuma (C), son of former South African president Jacob Zuma, leaves the court, where he faced corruption charges before being released on bail on July 9, 2018 in Johannesburg. AFP PHOTO |
A culpable homicide hearing against former South African president Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane was opened and adjourned in a Johannesburg court on Thursday, the latest legal headache for the 34-year-old who faced separate corruption charges on Monday.
Duduzane Zuma initially avoided prosecution over a 2014 incident in which his Porsche 911 sports car ploughed into a minivan taxi, killing one woman and injuring another who later died in hospital.
But he was summoned to court last week to answer two charges of culpable homicide against him.
In a pre-trial hearing in the case on Thursday, the Randburg Magistrate’s Court adjourned proceedings until Aug. 23. Duduzane Zuma’s lawyers said they hoped to agree a start date for a trial then.
A motorcade of black jeeps carrying Jacob Zuma – ousted as president by the ruling African National Congress in February – arrived at the court after the hearing, while a group of Zuma supporters paraded in front of journalists with placards reading “Hands off Duduzane.”
The Black First Land First (BLF) lobby group, which says Duduzane Zuma is the victim of a political vendetta, scuffled with members of Afriforum, a group which promotes the rights of the white Afrikaner community and had called for him to be prosecuted over the fatal 2014 crash.
On Monday, Duduzane Zuma appeared in leg irons at another Johannesburg court on corruption charges, which his lawyers say he will contest.
He was released on bail of 100,000 rand ($7,420).
In that case, he is accused of taking former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas to an October 2015 meeting with the Gupta family, friends of his father, who allegedly offered Jonas a bribe of over 600 million rand in his presence.