Is Malema off to jail soon? asks AfriForum
The lobby group will brief media on three separate cases involving the EFF leader.
EFF leader Julius Malema speaks at Sankopano Alexandra stadium in Johannesburg, 1 May 2019, at a May Day Rally. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum will brief media on Wednesday morning on three cases involving Economics Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema.
According to the organisation’s official Twitter account, which asks in Afrikaans if Malema is “on the road to jail”, the three cases involve the On-Point Engineering scandal, an assault charge, and the irregular use of a firearm.
AfriForum announced in April 2018 that advocate Gerrie Nel, who is head of the lobby group’s prosecuting unit, would privately prosecute Malema and those who stand accused alongside him for alleged fraud and corruption relating to tenders awarded to the EFF leader’s engineering company On-Point Engineering in Limpopo.
In March, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said a decision had not yet been made as to whether or not they would be prosecuting Malema over the alleged tender irregularities, which date back to 2012.
AfriForum said they would privately prosecute if the NPA did “yield to” their “demand” that the case be reinstated.
READ MORE: Malema ‘assaulted female officer’ after Sona – report
The second case involves the alleged assault of a police officer in uniform in April 2018, which the lobby group says was caught on CCTV camera.
The third case relates to the irregular use of a firearm, according to the tweet.
AfriForum laid charges against Malema last year after he was filmed on video shooting what appeared to be an automatic assault rifle with live ammunition at the EFF’s fifth birthday celebrations. The party’s spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi claimed at the time it was a toy gun.
The lobby group’s Natasha Venter said at the time that the charges laid included “firing of a firearm in a built-up or public place without sufficient cause as well as possession of a firearm and ammunition without the necessary license and authority”.
AfriForum hou ’n konferensie oor #Malema-sake op Woensdag 10 Julie 2019 om 10:00. Regstreekse uitsending op AfriForum se Facebook-blad. #JuliusMalema #MalemaMoetBoet #OnsVervolg #StopMalema@kalliekriel @ErnstRoets @maroelamedia @eNuus @eNuus pic.twitter.com/9h3MsJY0G7
— AfriForum (@afriforum) July 9, 2019
UPDATE: An earlier version of this story said that AfriForum may be seeking to prosecute Malema over his alleged assault of a female police officer at the state of the nation address (Sona) in February. This matter actually relates to a separate assault case over an incident that occurred in April, 2018. 11:46, July 10.
(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)
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