A police officer who claims he was shoved forcefully by EFF leader Julius Malema and party commissar Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has taken to the stand on Wednesday, outlining the details of his alleged assault at the hands of the political pair.
Watch: Alleged ‘assault’ video played at Julius Malema trial
Appearing in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court, Johannes Venter explained how the altercation went down from his perspective. He claims to have been pushed so hard ‘that he fell against the guardhouse’. The court was shown a video of the incident, and Venter can be seen stumbling as he comes into contact with the wall:
Venter claims he lost count how many times he was pushed by Ndlozi and #Malema, and at one point lost his balance. Here’s the CCTV video released by AfriForum. @etvNewsSA pic.twitter.com/xujV28QOnK
— Graeme Raubenheimer (@GraemeRauby) October 28, 2020
Who is Johannes Venter? Cop says EFF leadership ‘pushed him’
Julius Malema does not contest that things got physical between all parties. The EFF’s main men became visibly irritated when they were denied entry to Winnie Mandela’s Memorial Service. This was allegedly down to a row over permits. Juju maintains that this coming together does not constitute ‘assault’ – but Venter vehemently disagrees:
“The driver informed me that the leader of the EFF that Julius Malema was inside the vehicle. I looked inside the vehicle and greeted him, I informed him that the vehicle can’t enter and more than welcome to walk inside. Malema said he will not walk inside but he will drive in I said I will first get permission from the Venue Operation Centre.”
“I was then pushed to the right-hand side of the vehicle and at the stage, I can’t see who pushed me. Where I was then pushed by Mr Malema and Mr Ndlozi. After I was pushed, I then saw Mr. Malema and Mr. Ndlozi coming and they pushed very hard towards me..”
“I was pushed so hard that I fell by the guardhouse by the cemetery. General Zulu then came to me and said leave. At no stage did I do anything, at that stage the vehicle then drove in. Mr. Ndlozi and Mr. Malema then got into the vehicle and drove inside. I have no idea who gave them permission.”
Johannes Venter
#EFF | Venter gestures how #JuliusMalema and #MbuyiseniNdlozi charged towards him. “The second time. They pushed me so hard that I lost my balance. I was pushed so hard that I fell against the guard house”
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) October 28, 2020
Read the original article on The South African
