Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has defended his briefing a white lawyer, saying his party was not in favour of ‘the oppression of a white man’.
He was speaking outside the Randburg Magistrates Court after the postponement to March next year of the assault trial involving Malema himself and MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
Their defence lawyer is Advocate Laurence Hodes.
The trial arises from an allegation that Lieutenant-Colonel Johannes Venter was assaulted after stopping the car Malema was travelling in from entering a venue during the late struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s funeral.
Outside court, Malema told supporters there was nothing wrong with using white lawyers.
‘Hodes does not have a problem of having black juniors. They do not have a problem of briefing black senior counsel. That is why they are on retainer.
‘When we leave, we must preach the gospel of equality,’ he said, adding: ‘We are not calling for the oppression of a white man, we are calling for a black man to sit on the table, as an equal, as a partner in the distribution of the wealth in Africa.’