By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The firearm allegedly used by EFF leader Julius Malema during the party’s birthday celebrations at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in 2018 matches the cartridge case picked up by cleaners on the field and handed over to the police.
This was revealed by Lieutenant-Colonel Mandisi Mgwadleka, the chief forensic ballistic analyst at the police’s forensic science laboratory in North End, Gqeberha.
He was giving evidence in the unlawful discharge of firearm trial of Malema and his bodyguard, Adriaan Snyman, in the East London Regional Court on Thursday.
He told the court he had been able to link a spent cartridge found by a cleaner after the rally to a Norinco rifle seized from Snyman’s company.
Malema faces charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and contravening the Firearms Control Act. Meanwhile Snyman, who allegedly handed Malema the firearm, faces charges of contravening the Firearms Control Act and failing to take reasonable precautions to avoid danger to a person’s property.
They have both pleaded not guilty, with the defence having since claimed the firearm was, in fact, not a real one.
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Video Courtesy of EFFSA.