AfriForum announced on Friday it had laid a formal complaint against Adriaan Snyman at the Private Security Industry Regulating Authority (PSiRA).

Snyman is reportedly the owner of a private security firm that provides services to EFF leader Julius Malema.

A video emerged on Tuesday night of Malema firing what looks like a high-powered automatic rifle into the air at his party’s fifth birthday celebration in the Eastern Cape on Saturday.

The EFF claimed their leader had been firing in “simulation” at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane.

While some interpreted this to mean he was firing blanks, the party later attempted to have the public accept its explanation that the gunshot noises in the video were, in fact, coming from fireworks that were somehow coincidentally going off just as the rifle was jerking in Malema’s hands.

Had it been live ammunition, it would have been illegal, since firing blindly into the air in a built-up area carries the risk that the bullets will descend and unintentionally strike someone.

The BLF yesterday also laid charges against the “white man who handed Malema the rifle”.

Snyman has denied being “aware of anything”.

In its complaint, AfriForum requested that Snyman’s actions in relation to the alleged ownership of a suspected firearm and ammunition be investigated, as well as the fact that this firearm was given to Malema at the EFF’s five-year celebrations.

The complaint also relates to an earlier case AfriForum opened on Wednesday against Malema and Snyman at the Lyttelton police station.

AfriForum has requested that the SAPS investigate Snyman’s actions and declare whether these constitute a violation of the Firearms Control Act.

“Snyman is a controversial person who allegedly had many run-ins with the law on numerous occasions in the past,” alleged Ian Cameron, AfriForum’s head of community safety.

“If Snyman is in fact the owner of a security firm, he should handle firearms with even more caution than general gunowners do. It is AfriForum’s opinion that PSiRA as well as the SAPS should investigate Snyman’s actions.”

In 2011, Snyman, whose company at that time had provided security for Malema when he was ANC Youth League president, appeared in court in connection with allegedly planning a multimillion-rand heist.

Snyman’s company, Tactical Security Services, provided heavily armed bodyguards for Malema when he attended his hate speech case against AfriForum in the Equality Court in Joburg that year. Malema eventually lost that case.

According to Tactical Security Services’ website, the company was started in October 2008, and its guards were all highly trained ex-police and military personnel.

A statement from the SA Special Forces Association (Sasfa) has, meanwhile, distanced Sasfa from Snyman, in an apparent response to false associations made on social media.