Julius Malema back in court for firearm discharge case

Julius Malema, the head of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), is scheduled to appear in court in East London on Monday, February 28, 2022, on allegations of discharging a firearm in public.

At the time, a video of Malema purportedly firing a weapon at an EFF gathering in Mdantsane’s Sisa Dukashe Stadium went popular on social media. In East London, the EFF was commemorating its fifth anniversary.

In the video, party leaders can be seen dancing and singing on the stage and then Malema allegedly is seen firing the rifle into the air before he hands it over to Adriaan Snyman. Malema then give’s EFF chairman Dali Mpofu a high five.

Malema faces charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and three counts of contravening the Firearms Control Act.

He recently appeared before the Equality Court, where he gave testimony in Afriforum’s Hate Speech trial against the EFF. But that’s not the only court batle Malema is fighting as he also faces charges of assault after he and fellow EFF member Mbuyiseni Ndlozi attacked a police officer at the funeral of struggle stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

MALEMA FIREARM CASE – WHAT HAPPENED AT LAST APPEARANCE?

When Julius Malema and his co-accused last appeared before the East London Regional Court in August 2021, proceedings had to be postponed to allow for the prosecutor to recover from COVID-19. At the time, Magistrate Twannett Olivier  had to opt for a February date when postponing proceedings because the court couldn’t find earlier dates convenient for both the state and defence in the case.

“The prosecutor had contracted Covid-19 and recovered but there are still after effects [and] complications which require her to rest. The date for next year is the only date available for [all] parties involved,” NPA spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani said at the time.

Malema’s co-accused in the matter, Snyman, faces one count of contravening the Firearms Controls Act (the State alleges that he handed the firearm to Malema). Snyman owns a security company and is also a member of Malema’s security team.