Malema not acquitted; testifies in assault trial
3 June 2022
The assault trial of EFF leader Julius Malema and EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, in which the civil rights organisation AfriForum has a watching brief, resumed in the Randburg Magistrate’s court today. Malema and Ndlozi stand accused on charges of assault on a SAPS colonel, which took place after Malema’s vehicle was denied entry to Winnie Mandela’s funeral in 2018.
The defence’s application in terms of Article 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, for the accused to be acquitted on the grounds of insufficient evidence at the close of the state’s case, was rejected by the court. In its ruling the court found that the video footage provide prima facie proof of assault.
After this, Malema was called to testify by the defence. He testified that his actions on the day were reasonably justifiable due to the unique circumstances of the incident and that the only crime he had committed was “trying to bury [his] mother.” The trial will continue in July.
The matter was delayed from the outset due to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)’s hesitance to prosecute. This hesitancy motivated AfriForum to submit a mandamus application to compel the NPA to make a decision on whether it was going to prosecute the involved individuals. Only after this did the NPA announce that it was going to prosecute.