EFF leader Julius Malema insists he had no live weapon with him on the day he has been accused of firing a gun at a stadium, reports EWN.

He was testifying in the East London Magistrate’s Court yesterday in his firearm discharge case.

Malema and his bodyguard, Adriaan Snyman, are charged with a number of offences related to his alleged firing of a live weapon, which Snyman is accused of giving him at a rally in Mdantsane in 2018.

Last year, Malema brought an unsuccessful discharge application. But yesterday he stood firm in his belief that the state had no case against him.

‘No state case has been made here that demonstrates that I carried that kind of weapon you are talking about. My DNA is not found on that weapon. My house was never searched. My workplace was never searched looking for that weapon. I was never questioned about that weapon. When I was sitting here, I heard that they went to find the weapon in someone's premises very far... don't even know that address, very far from where I stay. I must come before this court and answer for weapons that cannot be brought anywhere close to my skin or to me,’ said Malema.

Meanwhile, News24 reports that a ballistics expert says there is no evidence to suggest a link between a cartridge found at the venue of the EFF's fifth anniversary celebrations in Mdantsane in 2018 and a firearm taken in as an exhibit.

JC de Klerk, who has more than 40 years of experience in ballistics, testified as a defence witness on Tuesday.

In 2022, a forensic ballistics analyst, Lieutenant-Colonel Mandisi Mgwadleka, told the court the cartridge found at the stadium was linked to a rifle which was ballistically examined after allegedly being discharged by Malema.

But De Klerk disputed this on Tuesday, saying there was ‘no match’ between the cartridge and the examined firearm.

He presented diagrams and pictures of how different firearms were discharged, and said his findings came out ‘negative’.

Full EWN report

Full News24 report

See also full Daily Dispatch report