Malema firearm discharge case postponed to tomorrow

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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.

The duo face charges of unlawfully firing a firearm in the presence of a crowd. Thus, endangering the crowd during the party’s 5th anniversary at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane in 2018.

In his testimony, De Klerk revealed that the cartridges the state presented as evidence found at the stadium after the event, do not match the firearm they are said to be coming from.

He testified that the state’s ballistic expert Mandisi Mgwadleka, who gave evidence linking the cartridges found at Sisa Dukashe Stadium to the firearm alleged to have been fired by Malema, had not done enough inspection of the cartridges and the gun.

He added that Mgwadleka only identified one positive mark on the cartridge found at the stadium, believed to belong to the firearm allegedly discharged by Malema.

He told the court that Mgwadleka did not extensively analyse the cartridges, as required by the profession.

He further told the court that the cartridge was found at a spot where a tent was erected on the night of the incident, indicating that the cartridge could have been planted, there tampered with, or moved to that position among many other possibilities.

De Klerk will be back in court tomorrow.