The EFF and its secretary-general Marshall Dlamini have indicated that they will appeal the judgment and 18 months’ suspended sentence handed down to Dlamini for slapping a police officer in the face after the 2019 State of the Nation Address (Sona).
The party slammed the sentence handed to Dlamini in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Friday. Dlamini’s 18-month prison sentence was conditionally suspended for five years.
Additionally, the court imposed a fine of R6 000, alternatively three months in jail.
When delivering 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.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said the 47-year-old was sentenced for assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm and malicious damage to property.
“In February 2019 the accused assaulted a member of the SAPS in the foyer of the National Assembly after the State of the Nation Address by the president.
“The case was allocated and investigated by Detective Captain Rean Naicker attached to Western Cape Crime Detection Services. Upon completion of the investigation in May 2019 the Director of Public Prosecutions decided to prosecute the accused in the Cape Town Priority Court,” Van Wyk said.
Both sentences are on condition Dlamini does not commit the same or similar offence during the period of suspension.
The EFF in a statement on Friday said the rationale used by the court in its sentencing reaffirmed its view that the case was “vindictive” and part of a broader attempt to provoke and then criminalise the leadership of the EFF.
“The EFF notes the judgment. The court rationally found that our secretary-general 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 predetermined 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 our commander-in-chief Julius Malema and this was confirmed on the witness stand by the police in the court,” the party said.
Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald welcomed the sentencing.
“The sentence sends a strong message to politicians and MPs to refrain from using violence, also in the Houses of Parliament, and police members should be protected against such conduct.
“In South Africa, a Member of Parliament who receives a prison sentence of more than 12 months, without the option of paying a fine, may not serve as an MP. Should that be the case, the EFF will have to recall Dlamini.
The EFF should suspend him for his misconduct, in any case, and recall him as MP,” Groenewald said.
Cape Times