By Kaya 959 Reporter
EFF leader Julius Malema is expected to appear in court in February next year on charges relating to him discharging a firearm.
The case against Malema and his co-accused Adriaan Snyman was due to begin this week in the East London Regional Court, however, it had to be rescheduled to 24 February 2022 till 4 March 2022.
“The trial was supposed to take place from Monday till 27 August 2021. The matter could not proceed due to the prosecutor experiencing health problems,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Anelisa Ngcakani.
Ngcakani said Malema and Snyman were excused from attending court as the decision to postpone had been previously made.
She said 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.
“This is in relation to Malema’s alleged discharging of a rifle at a stadium in Mdantsane. The incident allegedly happened in 2018 during the EFF’s 5th birthday anniversary celebrations,” Ngcakani said.
Snyman was Malema’s bodyguard and allegedly handed the gun to Malema.
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Video goes viral
Three years ago, a video of Malema firing a gun at the celebrations at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape, went viral on social media.
At the time, the party’s Mbuyiseni Ndlozi claimed that Malema had fired a toy gun. The EFF further said the noise was from fireworks. A gun expert refuted Ndlozi’s claims.
Shaun Murphy said he studied the footage and confirmed that the firearm was real.
“Just looking at the video, it’s quite easy to identify the firearm. I have handled and used these firearms in the past myself and it appears to be a Siaga 308 caliber rifle. So it’s a rifle based on the original AK-47 design,” Murphy said in an interview with eNCA.
He added that there were also signs that Malema was not firing a replica or blanks.
“Malema’s actions placed the lives of those around him at risk,” he said.



