Judge dismisses Malema fraud charges

Judge Billy Mothle dismissed the charges Tuesday, telling the court that Julius Malema had waited too long for his trial following a series of delays spanning three years.

"The case is struck from the roll," he told the accused. "You are now free to go."

Malema, a vocal critic of South African President Jacob Zuma, had repeatedly denied the charges, insisting they were part of an attempt by the government to silence him.

"I stand in front of you, an innocent man, without a dark cloud hanging over my head," Malema told journalists outside the Polokwane High Court in the country's north.

"There are no allegations whatsoever, but I know, because we are dealing with dogs, they are going to manufacture something new. They are free to do that."

Although the case has been thrown out, the judge told Malema he had not been formally acquitted and could therefore be charged again.

Prosecutors argue Malema and four of his business associates "improperly" received cash for a government contract worth 52 million rand ($4 million; 3.6 million euros) to build roads in his home province of Limpopo. Malema was allegedly an indirect shareholder in the firm that won the contract.

The controversial politician was once a protégé of Zuma and a leading figure in the youth wing of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), before he was expelled from the party in 2012 for ill-discipline. He went on to found his own opposition party, the ultra-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The EFF secured 25 parliamentary seats in the 2014 elections, and is now the second largest opposition party in the country.

nm/jil (Reuters, AFP, dpa)