EFF leader Julius Malema and party MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi have been found not guilty of assault by the Randburg magistrate’s court.
Malema and Ndlozi appeared in court on Thursday for judgment in their assault trial of Lieutenant-Colonel Johannes Venter during the funeral of struggle stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at the Fourways Memorial Park in Randburg in 2018.
Both Malema and Ndlozi had pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault.
The court heard that there were indeed acts of assault when the accused could be seen in a video played in court pushing the plaintiff, however, there were no injuries sustained. Magistrate Leiland Poonsamy found that the duo acted in justification, however, he noted that assault cannot be condoned just because “entry was denied”.
“The community will never condone assault because entry was denied,” said Poonsamy.
The court heard that while the plaintiff failed to prove that Malema and Ndlozi were not allowed to enter the cemetery, the duo convinced the court that they did not mean to assault the police officer.
Poonsamy said the EFF politicians were firm in their evidence and corroborated one another without wavering, adding that the duo, who gave the complementary evidence since the start of the trial, never contradicted themselves.
“The accused have not contradicted themselves before court and gave the court a detailed explanation. The accused were not elusive and had no contradictions,” said Poonsamy.
Addressing his supporters outside court, Malema said he appreciates the support they have shown for the past four years, telling them that they have triumphed over “white supremacy”.
“Once again, we have defeated AfriForum, we have defeated white supremacy because that is who we are,” said Malema, stating that they have proved that they are not “crazy people”.
The EFF welcomed the judgment and said in a statement: “The EFF is of the firm belief that Venter’s denial of access to the leadership of the EFF to the burial site of Mama Winnie was based purely on racism and a hatred for the EFF due to his membership with AfriForum.
“He used no list to identify whether they were to be granted access or not, nor did he use any verifiable procedure to justify him denying access to the EFF president Julius Malema and commissar Ndlozi.
“He [Venter] conceded himself that even if the vehicle used by the EFF leadership had the necessary identification, which he claimed he did not see, he would have still denied them access. This confirms that his logic to deny access was racism.
“The dismissal of this case, which was undoubtedly sponsored by the right-wing AfriForum, comes after the scathing judgment against the very same Afriforum in the case relating to the struggle song Dubula Ibhunu.
“The EFF is vindicated, as we have long said that the racist lobby group is engaged in an abuse of our judiciary to fight a political battle against the EFF and its leadership.”
Taking the stand during their previous court appearance in July, Ndlozi told the court how his rights were violated when Venter refused to let them into the graveyard even when they had the required accreditations.
He testified that Venter was never assaulted, saying Malema grabbed the police officer’s hand and tried to negotiate with him, which led to a quarrel.
In June, the duo submitted a section 174 application to have the matter discharged, arguing that the state did not have sufficient evidence to convict them, hence the continuous delays in the case.
The magistrate ruled against the application.
In May, Malema told dozens of his supporters who had converged outside court that the trial was a waste of time and that it had kept him from doing his political and organisational duties.
To the delight of his supporters, the commander-in-chief of the red berets also said the case was the longest trial of assault in history. “We are now four years into a useless trial,” Malema told his supporters at the time.
Not Guilty!#EFFDefeatsAfriforum pic.twitter.com/htWYwSbXiw
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) September 29, 2022
♦️Must Watch♦️
The President @Julius_S_Malema and the EFF Head of Political Education Commissar Dr @MbuyiseniNdlozi have been found not guilty for the matter over the policeman who tried to deny them entry to lay mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at her resting place.#HandsOffCIC pic.twitter.com/zsCMftduBH
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) September 29, 2022
Fighters came out in their numbers to support the President @Julius_S_Malema and the EFF Head Of Political Education Commissar Dr @MbuyiseniNdlozi at the Randburg Magistrates Court
-The President and Commissar Dr @MbuyiseniNdlozi have been found not guilty #HandsOffCIC pic.twitter.com/m1bxXvj6ej
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) September 29, 2022
Also read: Malema, Ndlozi assault trial postponed to September for judgment
For more crime stories click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
