www.thesouthafrican.com
19 - 25 November 2013
Issue 541
MALEMA TRIAL MOVED TO AFTER 2014 ELECTION
| After a standoff with media at the Polokwane High Court, Julius Malema and his red-beret-wearing supporters had cause to celebrate as Juju’s trial R52-million rand corruption trial has been postponed to September 2014. BY STAFF REPORTER THE efforts of the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) partisans to bolster their leader, the red beret-wearing Julius Malema, as he came to face the music in Polokwane this week seem to have borne fruit as the corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering trial featuring Malema and four partners has been postponed to September 2014. Although Juju, as Malema is semi-affectionately known by the press, has all his legal work still ahead of him, the postponement granted by the Polokwane High Court to him and four co-accused in the R52 million case leaves the EFF free to contest the 2014 elections unhindered by legal worries and the continuing media fallout from the corruption trial. This means that the EFF’s surprisingly adroit media campaign and unexpectedly broad church of supporters will continue, for the time being, to take the pre-election roadshow in new directions. The most exciting of these, perhaps, is the opening up of an economic debate to the left of the ANC. In Polokwane this morning, however, thoughts of the campaign trail temporarily took a back seat as a tense standoff developed between EFF supporters, the media and court officials, who had initially restricted access to the courtroom.
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|OUT OF THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE: Julius Malema has received a 10-month reprieve from his legal troubles, allowing the self proclaimed revolutionary to pursue his party’s dream of revolutionary redress for black South Africans.
However, after some two hours, the media were allowed into the venue for what turned out to be an unexpectedly brief morning’s judicial business. Malema, in the midst of a heavy SAPS presence, was quoted on Twitter by eNCA’s Nick Bauer (@NICKolausBAUER) as saying, “We aren’t going to jail – we are going to Parliament!” Julius Malema’s victory speech may have been lengthy, but
the former ANC Youth League firebrand will be reappearing in court in Polokwane on Thursday this week to hear the National Prosecuting Authority’s decision on his application to have all charges dropped. Meanwhile, as EFF supporters celebrate and the party leadership plans for an electoral assault on the ruling party, Juju’s advocate Tumi Mokwena is confident her team will have ample evidence
that will see Malema exonerated. As for the state, it has claimed in the media that it is preparing to call over 60 witnesses to the tender irregularities from which Malema and company allegedly benefitted. Whether the EFF leader arrives at next year’s court date as premier of the Northwest or as a defeated party leader, only time and South Africa’s fissile electoral dynamics will tell.
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