Thulisile Mapongwana
East London Magistrate Twanette Olivier, has rejected an application by EFF leader Julius Malema and co-accused Adriaan Snyman for her to recuse herself from the case on the grounds of bias.
They accused Olivier of bias in response to her questioning of a witness testifying about a video which was admitted as evidence in the trial of the two who are charged with contravening the Firearms Control Act for allegedly discharging a weapon in public during the EFF's fifth-anniversary celebrations at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in 2018.
In turning down the application on Thursday, Olivier denied that her questioning of a witness showed bias towards the accused.
Referring to a question she posed to the witness on Wednesday, Magistrate Olivier, said "the witness merely described the movements and attire of parties on stage as depicted in the video which was ruled admissible."
"Asking if the person was holding any object in his hand is not a leading question," she said.
The EFF leader meanwhile, addressed supporters outside the courtroom saying that "they can't defeat my political ideas and therefore they manipulate the processes, power and authority vested on them by our people to settle political scores."
The matter will resume on Friday.
