/ 13 October 2016

Hawks issue summons to Malema for allegedly inciting forceful land occupation

EFF leader Julius Malema.
EFF leader Julius Malema.

During a press conference on Thursday, Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema was alerted that police were outside to serve him with summons. Malema has been issued with two summons related to incidents of land occupation that transpired in 2014 and 2016.

The summons states that Malema is being accused of contravening the Riotous Assemblies Act, because he “incited, instigated, commanded or procured his Economic Freedom Fighters Followers and/or others to commit a crime … by illegally occupying any vacant land…”. The incident, according to the summons, occurred in June 2016 in the Madadeni region in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal.

The second summons is also with regard to contravening the Riotous Assemblies Act during a land occupation in the Mangaung area in Bloemfontein, Free State. The EFF’s deputy president, Floyd Shivambu, confirmed to the SABC that Malema had received the summons and that it had been sent by the Hawks.

The director of priority crimes from the South African police service has come leading a delegation of SAPS investigators who say that they want to charge the commander in chief of the Economic Freedom Fighters with a crime that occurred on the 16 December 2014,” Shivambu said.

“The NPA took a decision only last week to say that the commander in chief must be subjected to a court process, one: on the 7 November in Newcastle, and two: on the 14 November in Bloemfontein magistrate court,” Shivambu said.

Shivambu said that the summons were motivated by the alleged interests of a state capture, which Malema had earlier said left South Africa on autopilot.

“It’s very apparent that they are now even using apartheid legislation to try to persecute the commander in chief of the EFF for things that happened a long time ago,” Shivambu said. 

“You can realise that you are dealing now with a very desperate collapsing government of Jacob Zuma, which when they realise now they are in serious trouble, they try to arrest all the people that are opposed to him.”

“We suspect preliminary that its part of their response to the public protector report on state capture, because the CiC (commander in chief) is part of those that have made a submission to the public protector about the incidents of state capture by the Gupta family who have captured Jacob Zuma and the ANC for their own purposes.”

Malema responded to the summons later on Thursday afternoon. The EFF leader indicated on Twitter that he had no regrets and was committed to fighting for land.

“We want our land now & nothing will deter us from this noble cause, not even prison can silence us. We remain unshaken, we will take our land,” Malema said