The EFF has slammed the 18 months’ imprisonment suspended sentence its secretary-general Marshall Dlamini was handed down by the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court over an assault charges on Friday.
The party has also indicated that it would appeal this sentence “as there was a pre- determined agenda against its SG”.
Dlamini’s 18 months’ prison sentence was conditionally suspended for five years.
He is accused of having assaulted a policeman during a chaotic altercation in Parliament in 2019. Additionally, the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court imposed a fine of R6 000, alternatively three months in jail.
In April, Dlamini and his head of security were convicted for slapping a police officer in the face after the 2019 State of the Nation Address in Cape Town, Western Cape.
When delivering the judgment, Magistrate Nasha Banwari said Dlamini’s claim that he was merely protecting the EFF leader Julius Malema from a possible assassination threat was not acceptable
However, reacting to the sentence, the party in a statement on Friday said the rationale used by the court in its sentencing reaffirms its view that the case in its entirety was vindictive and is part of a broader attempt to provoke and then criminalise the leadership of the EFF.
“The EFF notes the judgment against our secretary-general in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court. The court rationally found that the our SG is a functioning member of society, holds numerous qualifications up to tertiary-level, and removing him from society and his role as a leader would serve no constructive purpose, the party said.
“It is our firm view that there was a pre-determined agenda to prevent the EFF leadership from executing its legislative responsibilities at the SONA on that day and that prevention was physical. On the very morning, the police communicated that there was a threat against the our commander-in-chief Julius Malema and this was confirmed on the witness stand by the police in the court,” the party said.
Dlamini told the court that the EFF had received a tip-off that there would be an attempt to assassinate their leader.
However, Magistrate Banwari found him guilty of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after it was reported that his victim had suffered facial injuries from the incident, and opened a case against the EFF MP.
As a result, the EFF said it will appeal the heavy sentence against its SG who had acted in the interests of his leader following reports of threats to his life.
“The EFF and the SG is to appeal both the judgment and conviction by the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court,” the EFF’s statement said.
Saturday Star