Bullet casing positively linked to rifle seized from Malema’s bodyguard

A SA Police Service (Saps) ballistics expert has confirmed a spent cartridge found at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane after Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema allegedly fired a gun into the air at a rally there in 2018, came from one of the firearms seized from his bodyguard’s company.

Lieutenant-Colonel Mandisi Mgwadleka took the stand in the East London Magistrate’s Court on Monday, when the trial of Malema, who along with his bodyguard Adriaan Snyman is facing criminal charges in connection with the incident, got into the third day.

He told the court he had been able to link a spent cartridge found by a cleaner after the rally to a Norinco rifle seized from Snyman’s company.

Malema faces charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and contravening the Firearms Control Act. Meanwhile Snyman, who allegedly handed Malema the firearm, faces charges of contravening the Firearms Control Act and failing to take reasonable precautions to avoid danger to a person’s property.

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They have both pleaded not guilty, with the defence having since claimed the firearm was, in fact, not a real one.

On the stand on Thursday, Mgwadleka, who is stationed at the Saps Eastern Cape forensic sciences laboratory in the ballistics section, told the court he had been tasked with examining the spent cartridge and had discovered markings consistent with those left by either a semi-automatic or fully automatic assault rifle.

He also said he had been provided with various rifles seized from Snyman’s company, with which he had carried out test shots.

“I examined the test cartridge casings against the exhibit [the spent cartridge found at the stadium] and compared the individual and cluster markings transferred by the firearm components during the firing process using a comparison microscope,” he said.

And this, he added, had shown that the spent cartridge found at the stadium had been fired by a Norinco from Snyman’s company.

Mgwadleka did say that not all the markings lined up, but he said upon further inspection it appeared the bridge block of the firearm in question had been swapped out at some stage because the serial number thereof and that of the gun didn’t match.

Asked by state advocate Joel Cesar if this would in any way have affected his examination, Mgwadleka responded in the negative.

“It did not affect the outcome because despite the bridge block not belonging to this firearm, the firearm was working perfectly and I was still able to link the cartridge casing I had received with this particular firearm,” he said.

Malema’s trial continues today.

– bernadettew@citizen.co.za