Africa-Press – South-Africa. EFF leader Julius Malema and his bodyguard Adriaan Snyman finally stood trial this week in the East London Regional Court regarding a 2018 shooting incident at the EFF’s fifth birthday celebration.
Four years after a criminal case was opened against the duo and following several delays, the trial started in controversial fashion on Monday with the urgent resignation of its prosecutor, advocate Elna Smit.
This delayed the trial by a day as her replacement, advocate Joel Cesar, was given Monday, meant for the start of the trial, to speak to witnesses and bring himself up to speed with the case.
Smit’s sudden resignation related to fears of being branded a racist by Malema, News24 reported.
Sources told News24 that she decided to quit after the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) turned down her plea to recuse herself from the trial and be substituted by a prosecutor of colour.
Malema prosecutor said to have resigned over fears of being ‘branded a racist’
She was scared that Malema and his party would label her a racist and the leader might even try to humiliate her in court.
It is understood that Smit had told her bosses how a combative Malema dealt with AfriForum legal representative Mark Oppenheimer in the hate speech trial.
The firebrand, who was fired by the ANC in 2012 for sowing division and bringing the party into disrepute, called Oppenheimer the weakest lawyer he had ever seen and insinuated that the trial was driven by racism.
When contacted, the party’s spokesperson Sinawo Tambo said Smit resigning out of fear of being identified as a racist was telling.
Smit declined to respond to the EFF comment or to confirm why she quit.
The State called nine witnesses between Tuesday and Friday.
The most remarkable testimony came from Lieutenant-Colonel Mandisi Mgwadleka, chief forensic ballistic analyst at the police’s forensic science laboratory.
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Mgwadleka told the court on Thursday that a cartridge case picked up by staff cleaning the Sisa Dukashe stadium in in Mdantsane after the EFF’s fifth birthday celebration on 28 July 2018, was discharged by the firearm that was alleged to have been used by Malema in the video that was widely shared on social media platforms.
This rebutted the defence by Malema’s lawyer, Laurence Hodes, that the spent cartridge could have been planted there six months prior to the event taking place.
Mgwadleka also revealed that the automatic rifle was tampered with before it was handed over to the police. He observed that the breechblock had been changed.
Hodes had also put it to the State’s seventh witness, Durban-based national compliance officer for the firearms division Lieutenant-Colonel David Johannes Jansen, that the gun could be a replica or air pistol firing blanks.
This, however, was rubbished by Jansen who said while he was no ballistic expert, there was a distinct difference in sound between an air gun and a real rifle.
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AfriForum, a complainant in the matter, told News24 that the NPA lacked will and interest to prosecute Malema – an allegation that it denied.
On Thursday, Malema celebrated his 41st birthday in court as his lawyers battled it out. The red berets brought a cake to court and sang for him.
Malema faces charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and three counts of contravening the Firearms Control Act.
Snyman faces one count of contravening the Firearms Control Act and failure to take reasonable precautions to avoid danger to a person’s property. Snyman is accused of handing Malema the rifle at the event while on stage.
They pleaded not guilty to all charges on Tuesday.
Magistrate Twannett Olivier postponed the case to the week of 5 to 9 September for further investigation.
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