Africa-Press – South-Africa. The trial of EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini, who is accused of assaulting a police officer at the 2019 State of the Nation Address (SONA), resumed in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Police officer Leticia Robertson returned to the witness stand and testified that she felt something was brewing while she was on duty at the National Assembly during the incident.
Testifying in Afrikaans, Robertson told the court that in the build-up to the events, she thought to herself: “Hier kom ‘n ding” (something’s about to go down). This was based on the feeling she got from the EFF when they walked in a group after the SONA in the melee of people in the lobby of the National Assembly building.
She thought to herself: “Iemand gaan geklap word” (someone is going to get slapped).
Robertson testified in Afrikaans and Dlamini’s advocate, Laurance Hodes, complained that the English translations of what she said were inaccurate. At times, he translated her evidence himself.
Dlamini sat in a corner of the small courtroom, in a dark suit, and stood up at times to get a better view of the projection screen that showed the events.
He is accused of allegedly knocking Warrant Officer Johan Carstens’ glasses off his face in the crowd of MPs and guests who left the chamber after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s first SONA.
Just before the incident with Carstens, the court heard, EFF leader Julius Malema had apparently stood on her foot but she said she realised afterwards that it was by mistake.
At EFF congress, keep an eye on money man Marshall Dlamini
Robertson explained that she was one of the police officers who wore dark suits so that people could tell them apart from what she called “bouncers” – other security officials who wear white shirts and black trousers who are known as “white shirts”.
She said she saw Carstens raise his hands in an up-and-down motion and heard him say: “Wait, wait,” as the EFF gathered around him. The next thing she knew, Carstens was slapped.
She said Carstens stumbled and had blood on the bridge of his nose. A lens of his spectacles had fallen out and the frame was slightly damaged.
“His glasses were hit off him and I saw them lying on the ground. And there was blood on the bridge of his nose,” she testified.
She pushed Dlamini away and went to help Carstens.
In the meantime, Malema’s bodyguard, who she knows by sight but not by name, used his body to block Malema off from everyone else.
“It all happened so quickly,” she testified.
She picked up Carstens’ lens and immediately afterwards, the police were told to go with people she assumed were from Crime Intelligence, and they interviewed the police in different rooms.
Asked whether Carstens gave Dlamini any reason to believe his life was in danger, Robertson said: “No.” The court heard that Carstens went for medical treatment afterwards.
At the time of the incident, the EFF issued a statement to say they had been tipped off that there might be an assassination attempt on Malema, and that they responded the way they did because they were under the impression that the plan was being carried out.
Eight EFF supporters squeezed into the public gallery of the tiny courtroom the matter is being heard in.
Never miss a story. Choose from our range of newsletters to get the news you want delivered straight to your inbox.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
