Cheers as evidence is tossed outta court
LAWYERS defending a minor accused of slaying right-wing AWB leader Eugene Terre'Blanche have spent the past two weeks in the Ventersdorp Circuit Court in North West exposing sloppiness and a lack of foresight by the North West police.
IN THE DOCK: Chris Mahlangu, one of two accused in the murder of Eugene Terre'Blanche.Charismatic attorney Zola Majavu left the court in his branded gold-on-black Mercedes Benz amid cheers and whistles from the local community on Friday afternoon.
AWB loyalists were nowhere to be seen. Majavu and top attorney Norman Arendse are trying to secure the acquittal of a minor accused of brutally killing Terre'Blanche - described by Ventersdorp police Sergeant Shireen Adams as "well known and feared by the community" .
Majavu, Arendse and a Legal Aid attorney for farm worker Chris Mahlangu have been arguing that the police failed to follow proper procedure when arresting the minor. Mahlangu and the minor are accused of murdering Terre'Blanche in his farmhouse just outside Ventersdorp in April last year.
Both have pleaded not guilty. Mahlangu claims self-defence and the minor says he was not involved in the murder. The lawyers exposed the police's lack of knowledge of the Child Justice Act, an inability to read and understand documents and labelled officers as "suspicious" and "pathetic" for their conduct and methods of investigation.
This week Ju stice John Horn ruled that evidence collected from the minor in the first 24 hours of his arrest was inadmissible in court.
Mahlangu's attorney Kgomotso Tlouane failed to convince Justice Horn to rule evidence against Mahlangu inadmissible.
The trial continues on April 10 through to 20. The minor will turn 18 on April 22. Majavu hopes to have wrapped up the case by then.
