Staff Sergeant at the Johannesburg Military Police, Moleleki Mapisa, has testified that Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema and party Member of Parliament Mbuyiseni Ndlozi pushed Lieutenant Colonel Johannes Venter in 2018.
Mapisa says this happened during a scuffle at the funeral of struggle stalwart, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, in 2018.
The EFF leaders are on trial for allegedly assaulting Venter when he tried to stop their vehicle from entering the Fourways Memorial Park, where Madikizela-Mandela was buried.
EFF’s Julius Malema and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi back in court:
Video footage played in court shows Mapisa intervened by trying to restrain Ndlozi.
Mapisa is testifying through an interpreter in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg.
“Your Worship, I stopped the Veto because it was travelling alone, there was no escort and there were no blue lights. While I was standing there, I heard some noise from the back and then, Your Worship, after that, that is when I saw Malema and Ndlozi pushing Venter.”
Venter previously testified that Malema and Ndlozi had pushed him at the entrance of the Fourways Memorial Park, where Madikizela-Mandela was laid to rest, when he tried to stop their vehicle from entering.
The alleged assault is said to have been captured on video, however, during an appearance in March, a digital forensic analyst said that a photo album he extracted from CCTV footage of the alleged incident was not what the court had been presented with, saying it may “possibly” have been manipulated.
