EFF leaders Julius Malema and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi left the Randburg Magistrate’s Court cleared of assault charges stemming from the fiery incident that took place at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s funeral in 2018.
Julius Malema, Ndlozi, found not guilty
On Thursday, Malema and Ndlozi huddled inside the magistrate’s court, confident their defence was solid against the State’s merits, which primarily relied on the testimony of Lieutenant-Colonel Johannes Jacobus Venter, the supposed victim of the alleged assault.
After considering all the evidence, the Randburg Magistrate’s Court ruled in favour of the Red Beret leaders. Magistrate Leiland Poonsamy made it clear that not only was the State’s case laden with inconsistencies but “the evidence in its totality confirms the version of Malema and Ndlozi.”
In his testimony back in 2020, Lt-Col Venter told the court he and several colleagues were tasked with providing protection services to President Cyril Ramaphosa, his deputy and ministers.
While the security mandate was spread across a specialised team of police officers, Lt-Col Venter was in charge of overseeing proceedings at the Fourways Memorial Park cemetery, where Madikizela-Mandela, a fierce struggle stalwart whose radical transformation rhetoric still permeates South Africa’s political discourse, was laid to rest.
According to Lt-Col Venter, his team had received specific instructions only to allow immediate family members and the president at the cemetery. Vehicles carrying these delegates were tagged, and when Malema’s escort pulled up to the cemetery entrance without a pass, things went awry.
The main contention of the trial was whether Malema and Ndlozi had maliciously assaulted Venter. The EFF leaders’ defence successfully argued that not only had Venter infringed on their freedoms by blocking the entrance of the cemetery but that Malema and Ndlozi, close companions of the late Madikizela-Mandela, suffered immense psychological damage from the ordeal.
“It was a very difficult day, a very emotional day. I came into politics when I was very young and I was raised by people like Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. I was very close to her and I couldn’t imagine I was going to be stopped from burying her,” Malema testified.
Ndlozi added that he and Malema were the real victims in the assault case, not Venter.
“We were denied our freedom to move or to access the cemetery. We were denied the dignity to mourn someone we had a relationship with. It was a fundamental humiliation.” he said.
In a fiery statement released after the verdict, the EFF dedicated the victory Madikizela-Mandela, “her selflessness and sacrifice for the people of this country.”