Man appears in court for damaging EFF posters

A man accused of removing and tearing 10th-anniversary posters of the EFF made his third appearance in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on March 6.

According to the accused, Botlholo “Zakes” Keinetswe (39), he handed himself over to the police after a video of him removing and tearing posters went viral. Keinetswe was also informed that a case was filed against him by the EFF. He believes that this is nothing but a political agenda.

Keinetswe is facing charges of malicious damage to property.

Keinetswe, who is a former member of the EFF, claims that he had a heated quarrel with female members of the EFF in the streets in July last year. He then went for the party posters, ripping and tearing them since he didn’t want to start a physical fight with the women.

He claims that a day after the incident he went to apologise but EFF leadership still decided to open a case against him.

It is alleged that the accused is an ANC member. The Roodepoort Record contacted ANC Johannesburg West Region to confirm Keinetswe’s affiliation and their spokesperson Sindethi Geza claimed that the accused has no ANC membership.

At his court appearance, the police initially decided that only a few members of both the ANC and EFF were allowed in, but both parties refused to adhere to those conditions.

“The EFF stated on a poster that they had a case against an ANC member, but the man who appeared in court is not our member,” Geza said.

The case has been postponed to April 23 for plea and trial and the accused is out on a warning.