Johannesburg - The trial of a Goodman Gallery security guard accused of assaulting one of the men who allegedly defaced “The Spear” painting of President Jacob Zuma starts in the Hillbrow Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
Paul Molesiwa is accused of assaulting Louis Mabokela at the gallery on May 22, after Mabokela allegedly defaced the painting depicting Zuma with his genitals exposed.
Molesiwa's lawyer Rod Montano said at a previous appearance that he would not pay a R1 000 admission of guilt fine offered by the director of public prosecutions.
Mabokela, who was charged with malicious damage to property, was also offered the option of paying a R1 000 fine, and also declined. He will reportedly also stand trial in February.
A second man accused of defacing the painting, Barend la Grange, paid the fine at the Hillbrow Magistrate's Court in November.
At the time, he said that if the case had gone ahead, he would have pleaded guilty. - Sapa