AS Lieutenant Colonel Johannes Venter was on the witness stand for the second day in a row, he contradicted himself a few times on whether he should have given permission to the car that was transporting EFF leader Julius Malema.
He told the court that he denied the vehicle entry to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s burial site because it was not part of the convoy which consisted of family members, the president, deputy president and current and former heads of state as well as other guests.
He said he did not allow the vehicle in because it did not have a permit, but also said that he would have stopped it even if it had a permit.
The defence’s advocate, Laurence Hodes, asked: “Why are you looking for a permit if you were not going to allow the vehicle entry?”
Venter said it was because they were not part of the convoy.
Hodes put it to Venter that the vehicle was part of the convoy until he stopped it as it was following other cars that were in the convoy.
Venter said, “according to me, they were not part of the convoy”.
Hodes asked why Venter only pursued criminal charges against the accused when he was pushed by more than two people.
He said he did not pursue any criminal charges against the other person because he did not recognise him.
On the permit issue, Venter said he did not see it even on the screen when he was shown what looks like a permit or accreditation on the dashboard.
He told the court what he saw on the dashboard of the car was a reflection.