Thulisile Mapongwana
State Prosecutor Joel Cesar says a charge of defeating the ends of justice should be added to the charges against EFF leader, Julius Malema, and his security officer, Adriaan Snyman.
He was presenting his arguments in the East London Magistrates Court on Wednesday, in reply to an application by Malema to have the case against him discharged.
This relates to an incident at the EFF’s 5th anniversary celebrations at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane in 2018 where a video emerged purporting to show Malema firing a rifle.
In his submissions, Advocate Cesar told the court that all the video evidence, the cartridges found on the scene, and the testimonies of seven SAPS officials prove beyond reasonable doubt that the two accused were guilty of contravening the Firearms Control Act.
Contrary to their statements, Cesar said the VIP unit dispatched to guard Malema was either not present or the five officers were not being truthful about not seeing or hearing any shots fired that night.
He also said despite Snyman allegedly” tampering with the firing pin and the inner mechanisms” so that the rifle handed in does not link to the cartridges found on the scene, the state still has a solid case.
Also Read: Malema wants charges dropped in firearms case
Meanwhile, the Snyman’s defence argued that on top of having witnesses of low credibility, the state failed to produce an eyewitness who could have testified to ever being in danger.
Referring to the videos before the court, Advocate Shane Matthews said Snyman could not be seen giving a firearm to Malema, and that no one could prove that Malema had no authority to possess the rifle, as per the charges brought against Snyman.
Advocate Laurence Hodes for the EFF leader argued that the state’s opposition to the application was self-defeating.
He said Advocate Cesar describes Malema moving away from people as he shoots - to prove the gun is real - while Hodes says this only proves that the CIC put no one in danger.
Hodes emphasised that because the scene was not reconstructed, there was no substantive evidence speaking to the structural damage to the stage platform at the stadium.
Throughout the trial, ballistic experts have shied away from identifying the automatic weapon in the video as real, and Advocate Hodes says no one has succeeded in proving it was not just a stage gun.
Magistrate Twanette Olivier will hand down her judgment on the Section 174 application on 19 October.
