Julius Malema's assault trial postponed to next year

6th December 2021 By: News24Wire

 Julius Malema's assault trial postponed to next year

EFF leader Julius Malema

The assault case against Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema and MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has been postponed to next year. 

On Monday, the pair made a brief appearance in the Randburg Magistrate's Court, where the matter was postponed to 7 April 2022. Members of the EFF gathered outside the court to show their support.

eNCA reported that the court heard that the lawyer representing them was experiencing Covid-19 symptoms on Monday.

Malema and Ndlozi are on trial for allegedly assaulting Lieutenant Colonel Johannes Jacobus Venter at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's funeral on 14 April 2018.

Venter previously testified that Malema and Ndlozi had pushed him at the entrance of the Fourways Memorial Park when he tried to stop their vehicle from entering. 

He also told the court that the politicians' vehicle was not part of the main convoy, which included the hearse, the family and other dignitaries - and that it did not have a "visible" accreditation, News24 previously reported. 

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 Randburg Magistrate's Court had been presented with, saying it may "possibly" have been manipulated.