Julius Malema was charged for the unlawful discharge of a firearm in a residential area, and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. Adriaan Snyman was charged for handing the firearm to Malema.
Lawyers representing EFF leader Julius Malema and his bodyguard and co-accused, Adriaan Snyman have argued for an acquittal.The defence teams for Julius Malema and his co-accused argued for acquittal on Wednesday. His co-accused, Adriaan Snyman, is facing charges related to handing the rifle to Malema.
Malema and Snyman were charged after the EFF's fifth birthday celebrations at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in East London in 2018, when a video went viral depicting Malema discharging what appeared to be a rifle. "It would be impossible, highly improbable and very unlikely that the cartridge to have been found, where it was found, if it would have been fired at the [EFF] celebrations in the circumstances [depicted] in the video footage that the court has seen," Hodes argued.
Hodes added that there was no tracing of the photographer who took the viral footage - and there was no damage on the stage which could have been caused by the firearm.at the celebrations and they were on the stage when the firearm incident occurred, but none had seen or complained about the unlawful discharge of a firearm.
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