Johannesburg - Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema was on Thursday summoned to appear before court for calling on people to occupy vacant land around the country.
Malema announced in the middle of the press briefing in Johannesburg that police were waiting for him outside.
“I hear police are waiting to serve summons on me for something that I said in the Free State in 2014,” he said and concluded the briefing before leaving the room.
According to two summonses served on him, Malema contravened the Riotous Assemblies Act 17 of 1956 read with Section 2 of the Trespass Act of 1959.
“In that on about the 26th of June 2016 and at or near Madadeni, Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, the accused contravened the Riotous Assemblies Act in that he incited, instigated, commanded or procured his Economic Freedom Fighters followers and others to commit a crime to wit, trespass in contravention of Section 1 of the Trespass Act by illegally occupying any vacant land wherever they found same,” the first summons reads.
The second related to the same charge allegedly committed in Bloemfontein on December 16, 2014 during the EFF’s first general assembly where Malema was elected president.
Malema had at the elective conference also called on EFF members to occupy land.
Malema was instructed to appear in the Newcastle Regional Court on November 7 and in the regional court in Bloemfontein on 14 November to face the charges.
EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu said the move to charge Malema was indicative of a “desperate state”.
“This is a manipulated captured state that the CIC was speaking about earlier, it is utilising the state institutions to persecute the leader of the revolution for their own narrow purposes. The case has been given to the director of priority crimes to prosecute the CIC… he is going to respond and present himself to the court processes as required,” said Shivambu.
Shivambu noted that firstly the incidents happened some time ago, and secondly that the authorities were resorting to an apartheid era law to go after Malema.
“He is basically being charged for a political speech where he addressed people, that is exactly what the apartheid regime used to do… [the] NPA is relying on a law passed in 1956.
“We are dealing with the collapsing government of Jacob Zuma which is trying to arrest everyone opposing it. We suspect this is part of the response to the impending state capture report by the public protector because the CIC is part of those who made submissions.”
The EFF’s land policy advocates for people to occupy vacant land and built homes.
The move to prosecute Malema comes just two days after the National Prosecuting Authority announced that it decided to bring fraud charges against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. These charges relate to the retirement and re-employment of former senior South African Revenue Service official Ivan Pillay in 2010.
African News Agency