‘I only wanted to bury my mother’ – Julius Malema
The leader of the EFF, Julius Malema, was questioned during the assault case that is pending against him in the Randburg Magistrate's Court.
EFF leader Julius Malema and member of parliament Mbuyiseni Ndlozi must wait another month after their common assault case was postponed yet again at Randburg Magistrate’s Court.
They appeared at court backed by hundreds of EFF supporters who sang and danced almost the whole day on Friday, barring breaks, as Malema and Ndlozi entered court at 09:00 and left around 16:00.
EFF supporters are singing and dancing again @EFFSouthAfrica @randburg_sun @Julius_S_Malema pic.twitter.com/lgqET5hK1v
— Nicholas Zaal (@NicholasZaal) June 3, 2022
The EFF pair was involved in a scuffle with Lieutenant Colonel Johannes Jacobus Venter during the funeral of struggle stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at the Fourways Memorial Park in 2018.
Two witnesses who were questioned last year were retired police officer Colonel Charles Seanego and Deon Klingbiel, the former operational manager at the memorial park.
There is also video footage of the incident. They both pleaded not guilty.
Yesterday Magistrate Leiland Poonsamy heard arguments from the complainant and the accused about the credibility of witnesses and the video footage as evidence.
Argument was also made from precedent that even minimal touching can count as assault, so the pushing that the pair are accused of can be seen to be assault.
Malema testified at length and was made to answer questions as the courtroom watched the video again and again.
He argued he was justified to enter the memorial in 2018, and Venter was wrong to bar them entry because their vehicle did not have the authorisation sticker on the front that other vehicles had.
@randburg_sun @EFFSouthAfrica @Julius_S_Malema pic.twitter.com/nxnL9AXDUQ
— Nicholas Zaal (@NicholasZaal) June 3, 2022
“I just wanted to bury my mother,” Malema said, when quizzed about what led to the incident, and how he stepped out of the vehicle so Venter could see who he was.
“AfriForum are out to get me,” he said, referring to their support for Venter’s case.
“They have turned this into a political thing.”
Malema said he would have preferred for this matter to be settled out of court, but Venter had a right to open the case.
As the other courtrooms had just about emptied and the only people left on the premises were EFF supporters, media and those vested in the case, Poonsamy postponed the case to July 1 for Ndlozi to testify.
This after he said there would be no more postponements, during the May appearance.
Read original story on randburgsun.co.za
