South African opposition leader Julius Malema and his co-accused Adriaan Snyman have failed in their bid to have charges related to the violation of the Firearms Act withdrawn against them. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader allegedly fired a gun in public in 2018 which was allegedly handed over to him by his bodyguard Mr Snyman.
The two had pleaded not guilty to all six charges levelled against them. Malema and Snyman, appeared in the East London Magistrates Court on Thursday morning hoping to have the matter thrown out of court due to insufficient evidence. Malema’s legal team previously brought an application to have the case dismissed due to “insufficient evidence.”
In delivering judgment on the application, Magistrate Twanet Olivier said Malema’s argument that the gun was a prop, or movie gun, did not hold any weight in the case thus far.
“The mere say so that it was a movie gun does not make it so… it’s not evidence, the mere say so. In the light of the evidence that’s been presented so far, the application of discharge in terms of Section 174 of Act 51 of 1977 is not granted.”
Mr Malema addressed his supporters outside court in East London following the judgement and accused the judge of being biased. He was accompanied by the EFF leaders in all nine provinces including EFF’s former National Chairperson, Advocate Dali Mpofu and Commissar Godrich Gardee.
“I am not scared of prison, when you are a revolutionary prison is your nickname… No racist Magistrate can stop me from executing that which I stand for. No small boy of a prosecutor can persecute me and jail me for what I stand for.
Malema said they asked to postpone the case to July next year because they did not want to be held up before elections while other politicians were busy campaigning.
He further fired shots at Magistrate Olivier calling her an “incompetent magistrate who comes late to court, who can’t get her papers in order, who can’t read her own judgement, who adjourns the court during judgement to go backseat and receive Pravin Gordhan’s call and Ramaphosa’s call and when she comes back to give her judgement she is shaking like hell because it is a sponsored judgement.”
The trial has been postponed to 15 July and is expected to sit for two days.
Source Nehanda Radio
