EFF leader Julius Malema said the common assault charge against him and party MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi was a conspiracy to get them arrested for a crime they did not commit – and, he said, it was all about eliminating a threat.
Malema was speaking outside the Randburg magistrate’s court, where he and Ndlozi each face a common assault charge for an incident at the funeral of struggle stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in 2018. They have pleaded not guilty to the assault charge, which they claim is part of a political agenda.
It is the state’s case that the pair assaulted Col Johannes Venter when he told them the vehicle they were travelling in did not have a valid permit to enter the cemetery.
This was manipulated. Someone somewhere removed certain pages.
— Laurence Hodes, defence lawyer
AfriForum has pushed for their prosecution.
Malema and Ndlozi have pleaded not guilty.
On Wednesday, the court heard evidence from Warrant Officer Jakobus Smith, who works as a digital forensic analyst at the cybercrime investigating unit in Pretoria.
Smith, who does forensic analysis of CCTV and video footage, testified that he had received evidence from investigating officer Col Charles Seanego, the initial investigating officer who is now retired.
Smith was asked to compile two photo albums from the two discs containing video footage of the incident.
“Once the inquiry is booked out, I open the bag and peruse the data and start with the analysis,” Smith said, explaining the process of receiving and analysing evidence.
He said when he received the evidence from Seanego, it was sealed.
“I was told the charge was assault and I must compile images of the assault that took place. I extracted 23 images, and I compiled an album,” Smith said.
The album he said was resealed with a new forensic bag in the old one. The exhibits were stored at the offices until the investigating officer came back to take them, he said.
Defence lawyer Laurence Hodes SC told Smith there were photos missing from the album he compiled. He had compiled 23 photos, but the album presented to the court, the prosecution and the defence contained 11 photos.
“I gave the albums to the IO [investigating officer, Seanego] and he must have mixed them up.”
But Hodes was suggested there was something more to it.
“This was manipulated. Someone somewhere removed certain pages,” Hodes said. “There may be an innocent explanation, but I don’t know it, and you don’t know it.”
He told Smith the album was not the true reflection of the work he had done, to which Smith responded: “No, it is not.”
Speaking after the case was postponed to July 1 and 2, Malema said no credible evidence had been led in court since the case started.
“The state is dismally failing to prove their case,” Malema said.
He said the discrepancies in the evidence led by the state witnesses showed there was a clear conspiracy around the case.
“People want to arrive at a certain narrative. When you are a witness your role is to help the court arrive at a reasonable judgment. We can see there is an intension to hide information because you must get Malema and Ndlozi guilty through any means necessary,” he said.
He said the case was concocted, and accused the ANC of pursuing the same interests as AfriForum.
“It does not come as a shock to us because they [ANC and AfriForum] shared a press conference in Gauteng. You’ve got the right wing and the former liberation movement working together to eliminate what they see as a political threat,” he said.
Malema said he and Ndlozi were provoked on the day of the incident.
“We had all the rights to be there. No evidence has been led to prove that we had no right to be there. There onus is on them [the state] to prove that we acted in an irresponsible and criminal manner,” he said.
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