By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The East London regional court has postponed to tomorrow the firearm discharge case against EFF leader Julius Malema and his bodyguard Adriaan Snyman for the state to cross-examine defence ballistic expert JC De Klerk.
Their trial is based on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and contravening the Firearms Control Act.
Malema is accused of firing a gun, which Snyman is accused of giving him, on stage at a rally at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane in 2018.
Malema and Snyman have pleaded not guilty and claim the firearm was not real.
The defence opened its case with testimonies from an attorney and firearms expert, Martin Hood, and a ballistic expert, JC de Klerk with over 40 years’ experience.
Hood is said to have contributed to the formulation of the Firearms Control Act.
According to Hood, the Firearms Control Act is “broad and vague,” and should not be interpreted out of context.
He argued that the interpretation of the act in the charge sheet was “not reasonable nor business-like”, as he had never seen it being applied to someone with a security company.
Hood said Snyman was well within his right, as an owner of a security company and a license holder, to handover a gun to Malema, as long as it was operated under supervision.
He further argued that Malema was never declared unfit, as specified in the Act, as he holds a competency certificate to operate a firearm.
Hood conceded however that the criminal offense was in discharging a gun in front of a huge crowd of people and endangering their lives.
Malema’s defence, Advocate Laurence Hodes, has emphasised over the course of the trial that the state had failed to call a witness to testify of being scared for their lives on the day.
Hood concluded by saying that the responsibility would be on the person who signed out the firearm on the evening, to ensure the gun is not misused or fired inappropriately, and that they should be the one facing charges as the responsible party.
Meanwhile, the ballistic expert, de Klerk, set up a Television set and gave a presentation on the comparison of a TV gun and a real automatic rifle.
He further rehashed evidence in the case thus far.
De Klerk said there was no possible way to know whether the cartridge found at Sisa Dukashe Stadium was not planted after the event, or had always been there.
He based his opinion on the fact that no powder tests for gun residue were conducted on Malema, and the fact that his fingerprints or DNA were not found on the cartridge at the scene.
State Prosecutor, Advocate Joel Cesar, will cross examine the ballistic expert De Klerk on Wednesday.