EFF statement on the sentence imposed by the Cape Town Magistrates Court against Secretary General Marshall Dlamini

28 June 2024

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the judgment against our Secretary General, Commissar Marshall Dlamini, by the Cape Town Magistrates Court. He has been handed an 18-month sentence, wholly suspended for five years, and fined R6000 for the purported assault of a white policeman.

This sentence comes as a result of the Secretary General defending the EFF leadership in Parliament at the State of the Nation Address (SONA), on the 8th of February 2019, from what he rightfully perceived as an imminent threat to their collective safety.

The Magistrate in the Cape Town Magistrates Court rightly dismissed the politically motivated argument by the state, which sought to imprison a responsible member of society who was executing his responsibility of defending his leadership.

The court rationally found that our Secretary General is a functioning member of society, holds numerous qualifications up to tertiary level, and removing him from his role as a leader of society would serve no constructive purpose.

In its sentencing, the court also noted that the Secretary General is unlikely to react similarly in the future, acknowledging that his response was made in his capacity as Head of Security of the EFF.

The rationale used by the court in its sentencing reaffirms our view that the case in its entirety was vindictive and is part of a broader attempt to provoke and then criminalise the leadership of the EFF.

It is our firm view that there was a predetermined agenda to prevent the EFF leadership from executing its legislative responsibilities at the SONA on that day, and that prevention was physical. On the very morning of SONA 2019, police communicated that there was a threat against the CIC Julius Malema and this was confirmed on the witness stand by police in the court.

Therefore, the actions of our Secretary General in defence of our leadership were necessary and revolutionary. Given a similar situation any disciplined member of the EFF would react that way and we have every intention to continue to do so.

The EFF and the Secretary General will therefore appeal both the judgement and the conviction by the Cape Town Magistrates Court.

Furthermore, the Secretary General of the EFF will continue to exercise his responsibilities as a Member of Parliament and an Official of the movement, and continue with the work of building the only alternative for Economic Freedom In Our Lifetime!

Ifs no retreat, no surrender!

Issued by Leigh-Ann Mathys, National Spokesperson, EFF, 28 June 2024