The bid by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema to have his 2018 case of illegally discharging a firearm thrown out of court has failed.
Malema and his bodyguard, Adriaan Snyman, appeared in the East London Magistrates Court on Thursday morning hoping to have the matter thrown out of court due to insufficient evidence.
The case dates back to July 2018, when Malema was allegedly handed a semi-automatic firearm by Snyman and fired several shots during the EFF’s fifth birthday celebrations at the Mdantsane’s Sisa Dukashe Stadium in East London.
Malema’s legal team previously brought an application to have the case dismissed due to “insufficient evidence.”
In delivering judgment on the application, Magistrate Twanet Olivier said Malema’s argument that the gun was a prop, or movie gun, did not hold any weight in the case thus far.
“The mere say so that it was a movie gun does not make it so… it’s not evidence, the mere say so. In the light of the evidence that’s been presented so far, the application of discharge in terms of Section 174 of Act 51 of 1977 is not granted.”
