THE case against EFF leader Julius Malema and MP Mbuyseni Ndlozi has been postponed to 28 and 29 October. The case failed to get underway as scheduled for Tuesday, as it could not be decided whether or not media should be allowed to film inside the court room.
EFF supporters gathered outside of the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday in support of Malema and Ndlozi.
Both Malema and Ndlozi appeared on charges of assault, following the alleged assault of a police officer at the funeral of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in 2018.
The alleged April 2018 assault was caught on CCTV camera and released by the lobby group AfriForum late last year.
The magistrate earlier on Tuesday said that he would only entertain the media application later and wanted the matter to proceed.
Malema said that the media should be allowed to record his case in its entirety.
“We do not agree with the magistrate’s suggestion that this white man must come and give evidence here today without you and then you make an application after and then when we appear, he’s going to give you permission to come and cover our evidence, yet you have not covered the evidence of a white man,” said Malema.
Speaking outside of the court, for AfriForum, Ernst Roets said that he hoped that this case would highlight the fact that nobody is above the law.
“Julius Malema, more than anyone else in this country, is acting as if he is above the law, and the way that the criminal justice system has treated him…, strengthens that perception that he can do whatever he wants. We hope that this case will be a starting point… to point out to him that he will be prosecuted and there will be consequences,” he said.
“AfriForum wants to ensure that justice prevails, and we are of the opinion that the case could have proceeded today. However, transparency is important to us and we therefore support the fact that the media was here today and applied for approval to report on future proceedings. AfriForum and its private prosecution unit will continue to monitor the case in the interest of justice.”
He later added in a statement: “The trial of Julius Malema, leader of the EFF, and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, its spokesperson – each on a charge of assault – would have commenced in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court today. However, the Court ruled that the media may not broadcast today’s proceedings live and should first bring applications to this effect. The case was therefore postponed again to 28 and 29 October 2020. AfriForum and 16 other applicants applied today to report on the court proceedings on these days.”
Outside court, Malema said the charges against him and Ndlozi were just a waste of time.
“Why do we have a common assault charge laid by police officers? Police get pushed everyday. If they open cases there will be no dockets,” said Malema.
“When you are charged, it’s to isolate you so that you walk the journey alone. We thank you for walking this journey with us. As an officer of the law you will get into difficult situations and use Ubuntu to be able to diffuse the situation. They don’t know Ubuntu because it has no definition in their language, that’s why they mistreat us.”
(COMPILED BY INSIDE POLITICS STAFF)
