EFF leader Julius Malema returns to the East London magistrates‘ court on Wednesday for his trial on charges of firing a rifle.
AfriForum opened a case against Malema in 2018, accusing him of putting the lives of the public in danger by firing a rifle in a built-up area. Malema’s bodyguard Andriaan Snyman is accused of handing Malema the rifle. They pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In their last appearance, the duo’s defence indicated that it intends to file an application to have the case against the pair dismissed.
EFF welcomed the announcement by Malema’s defence team. Party spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said the party was positive about the outcome of the pending application.
“It shows that there isn’t actually any case that can be heard, so we’ve made the application, and we hope that it will be successful. We are confident that if the judge is also following the proceedings as we are, she’ll dismiss it,” said Thambo.
Last week, the state had three witnesses who testified and were found to have left out key information regarding the investigation.
Witnesses in the trial included Amanda Yvonne Steenkamp, a retired police warrant officer and facial identification specialist; Colonel Nkosikho Mzuku, who received the footage of the event; Sarel Kruger who received the rifle; and Dwayne Francis, who downloaded the video from investigating officer Colonel Rodney Swartbooi’s phone.
“Due to the poor quality, light levels, angle and distance of the CCTV cameras, the CCTV footage is too low to mark out the specific individual characteristics on the face and on the firearms,” said Steenkamp.
She further noted that the CCTV footage was too low to mark out specific discriminating characteristics on the firearms.
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