Dali Mpofu – praag.org

Malema: Winnie last remaining revolutionary in ANC

EFF leader Julius Malema praised Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and said should be honoured for her struggle for liberation. Madikizela-Mandela, as a struggle icon could have become president of the country, he said.

“If we do not honour Winnie Mandela, it means the apartheid propaganda has succeeded. To defeat the propaganda we have to honour the remaining revolutionary.”

Malema said that allegations about lawyer Dali Mpofu, who left the ANC and joined the EFF last month, and Madikizela-Mandela having an affair were not true.

“This man does not have the potential to sleep with his mother. Winnie is Mpofu’s mother.”

Malema claimed ANC leaders benefited from investors as far back as the early 1990s. He mentioned leaders by name, saying they benefited from foreign companies currently operating in the country.

Madikizela-Mandela, Malema said, was the “only cadre of the revolution”.

Malema said Madikizela-Mandela will not join the Economic Freedom Fighters.

“She deeply identifies herself with the ANC. Asking her to join the EFF is like asking her to let go of herself and who she truly is,” he told supporters outside the Polokwane High Court.

Malema failed earlier in the day to persuade the court to withdraw criminal charges against him.

Judge Ephraim Makgoba ruled that the case against him would go ahead next year as scheduled, unless the National Prosecuting Authority decided to drop the charges.

Malema loses court bid

The Polokwane High Court dismissed EFF leader Julius Malema’s application to have charges against him dropped on Thursday.

Judge Ephraim Makgoba said the case against him would go ahead next year as scheduled, unless the National Prosecuting Authority decided to drop the charges against him.

The expelled former ANC Youth League leader faces charges of fraud, corruption, money-laundering, and racketeering.

It is alleged that he made nearly R4 million from corrupt activities.

Earlier it was reported by Sapa that Dali Mpofu had arrived at the Polokwane High Court on Thursday to support corruption-accused EFF leader Julius Malema.

Sporting a red Economic Freedom Fighters beret, red shirt and black jacket, Mpofu joined other Malema supporters waiting near the court entrance for Malema to arrive.

Mpofu is the lawyer representing the wounded and arrested Marikana mineworkers at the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the shooting at the Lonmin platinum mine near Rustenburg last year, when 34 people were killed.

He recently announced he had resigned from the African National Congress to join the EFF.

A large contingent of international and local journalists also gathered outside the court where Malema was due to launch a bid to have charges against him dropped.

Earlier on Thursday, hundreds of Economic Freedom Fighters members blew vuvuzelas and some waved knobkerries as they chanted songs against President Jacob Zuma.

“Muso wa Zuma reya o menola [we will unseat Zuma’s government],” they sang.

Traffic was bumper-to-bumper, with streets around the court closed.

The expelled former ANC Youth League leader faces charges of fraud, corruption, money-laundering, and racketeering.

It is alleged that he made nearly R4 million from corrupt activities.

Malema is out on R10,000 bail. His four co-accused, who are his business associates, are out on bail of R40,000 each.

On Thursday, the EFF leader was expected to make representations to the judge in an attempt to have the charges against him dropped.

The State alleges that the five misrepresented themselves to the Limpopo roads and transport department, leading to a R52m contract being awarded to On-Point Engineering.

According to court papers, Malema had business ties with Lesiba Gwangwa, one of the co-accused and a director of On-Point Engineering.

Malema’s Ratanang Family Trust was an indirect shareholder in On-Point.

The department paid the company R43m. According to the charge sheet, Malema substantially benefited from this payment, using it to buy a farm and a Mercedes-Benz. – Sapa

Marikana inquiry continues

The Farlam Commission of Inquiry, which is investigating the deaths of 44 people during strike-related unrest at Lonmin’s platinum mine in Marikana last year, is expected to continue on Tuesday.

This follows the Constitutional Court ruling regarding funding for the legal teams representing the miners.

Thirty four people — almost all striking mineworkers — were killed on August 16 when police opened fire on them. Ten people, including two police officers, were killed in the preceding week.

On June 21 Dali Mpofu, for the miners, told the commission that due to financial constraints, it could be his last day representing the miners.

He brought an urgent court application in the High Court in Pretoria several weeks ago seeking funding, but this was dismissed.

Mpofu then took the State to the Constitutional Court, asking that it pay for his legal team.

The application was dismissed on Monday.

North West deputy police commissioner General William Mpembe on Monday told the Commission how his colleague was killed by striking miners.

“I couldn’t count how many [attackers] there were… There were plus minus five of them who attacked Monene,” testified Mpembe.

“They had pangas and knobkerries.”

Mpembe was being cross-examined by Takalani Masevhe, for the family of slain Warrant Officer Tsietsi Monene.

A second officer, Sello Lepaku, was also killed in the attack. – Sapa