Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema was in high spirits on Thursday despite the negative outcome of the application for the resignation of Magistrate Twanette Olivier.
Malema and his bodyguard Adriaan Snyman returned to the East London District Court on Thursday accused of firing a gun at the EFF’s fifth anniversary celebrations at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane in 2018.
The case against the EFF leader took a new turn on Wednesday after he asked a judge to step down over allegations of bias and take on the role of prosecutor.
Although the application failed, Malema said the defense and the judge were now on the “same page”.
“Those who are given the responsibility to lead the law must respect the law as well, they must also respect us. When we ask the judge to step down, we are not playing games,” Malema told supporters outside the court.
“We did it because at one point we felt like he went down to the arena. And he himself, he explained that he was not in the arena and we told him ‘stay there, don’t make a mistake when you come to the field, continue to be a lineman’.
“We made him understand that there are some temptations that have been observed. Now we are back to square one, we are together. You respect us, we respect you.
Application of Section 174 The EFF leader said the state did not have a strong case against him, cautioning against the “mistake” of impeaching him.
“We are here today, not because we committed a crime, but because we have different political views and they want to use the courts and the power they have to persuade us to agree with them. They do not use the political space and arguments to persuade us to agree with them and this is an attempt to scare us.
“You must not, under any circumstances, die on your knees. As a fighter and revolutionary, no matter what situation you face, you must die with your boots on, do not surrender to the country and be strong and established.
Malema said that when everything is done, he will apply section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which according to the NPA, “concerns the right of the accused to be acquitted of the offense he is accused of committing where, at the end of the State’s case, there is no evidence that the court can pull the accused to the charge.
“No one can fight me. When he closes the case, we will apply 174, when he rejects 174 and asks me to stand, the judge and the prosecutor will stop their work after the trial because there is no capacity here, with their bad case already,” said Malem.
“If he is wrong to say that Malema should go in the box, he should tell his relatives that he only signed the retirement form because his career will end that day. We are not shaken or scared, we are here because we respect the law.