Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema claims the case brought against him and his bodyguard Adriaan Sniman in the East London Magistrates' Court is a political witch hunt and an abuse of limited state resources.
The pair are charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and breaching the Firearms Control Act. The incident occurred during the EFF's fifth anniversary celebrations at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane in 2018. Malema maintains his innocence. He claims the weapon he allegedly fired was a toy gun.
He argued that if he had committed a crime, he should have been arrested by the numerous police officers present at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium.
Malema accused the government of bowing to AfriForum pressure by prosecuting him on a case that was baseless and based on lies.
“Africa Forum is threatened by anyone who claims seats for Africans. If you claim to fight for equality between Africans and whites, you become an enemy of Africa Forum. Africa Forum's mission is to defend and protect white privilege. That is why, whenever they see an opportunity to discredit the EFF leadership, they do so even without evidence.”
But the government maintains it has evidence to prosecute Malema.
“Following a thorough police investigation, there is sufficient evidence to prosecute the ongoing case, the charges are based on collected evidence which has been presented to the court and we believe that Mr Malema has a case to answer,” NPA regional spokesman Luxolo Tiyali said.
Malema further expressed disappointment with the judge's conduct in the case.
“I'm not happy with the magistrate but it's a court so there's nothing I can do. When the SAPS ballistics expert was summoned before the magistrate, the magistrate did not ask the ballistics expert if there was a peer review signature. When our ballistics expert was summoned to the case, we were told he did not have a peer review signature. The magistrate asked how this evidence should be taken when there is no peer review, why did she not ask the SAPS ballistics expert that question?”
The case is scheduled to return to court for closing arguments on Nov. 1.
Video: Malema says shooting incident discredits EFF leadership
