JOHANNESBURG - The case against Economic Freedom Fighters' (EFF) leader Julius Malema and party spokesperson
Mbuyiseni Ndlozi -- accused of assaulting a police officer last year during the burial of stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela -- was postponed in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
"All we were fighting for was to enter the cemetery and to go bury our mother -- we had all the right to be there, he was not going to stop us. No gun, no death -- nothing was going to stop us from burying Winnie Mandela," Malema said outside court after the brief appearance.
Malema
said that he was happy to be dragged to court and if it meant being arrested for burying a revolutionary, then so be it. He added that it was also a clear indication that the party was breaking barriers and causing a stir.
“It’s a waste of the court’s time but that is what white people do. If they disagree with you, they take you to court. It’s apartheid tactics,” said Malema.
Video: Simphiwe Mbokazi/African News Agency(ANA).
The officer laid a case against the politicians at the Douglasdale Police Station but it allegedly received no police attention until AfriForum’s private prosecution unit inquired about it.
“From AfriForum’s side, we welcome the fact that Malema and Ndlozi appeared at court today. We believe in equality before the law. We are thankful that it is in the interest of everybody that one should be prosecuted irrespective of being a political figure,” said Kallie Kriel CEO of AfriForum.
EFF members seemed in high spirits, interacting with supporters taking pictures and making jokes.
The case has been postponed to March 10, 2020, to for consultations and representations between the EFF’S lawyers and the National Prosecuting Authority.