A South African court has sentenced radical left-wing opposition leader Julius Malema to five years in prison for firing an assault rifle at a rally eight years ago.
Magistrate Twanet Olivier delivered the sentence on Thursday at the East London Regional Court, finding Malema guilty of five offences, including unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, discharging it in a public space, and reckless endangerment.
The charges stem from a 2018 incident when a video emerged showing Malema using a semi-automatic rifle to fire several shots in the air during his party’s fifth-anniversary celebrations in the Eastern Cape province.
In his defence, Malema told the court the firearm was not his and that he had fired the shots to rouse the crowd. But during her sentencing ruling, Olivier said “it wasn’t… an impulsive act. It was the event of the evening.”
Hundreds of red-clad supporters of the Economic Freedom Fighters party gathered outside the court for the sentencing. Malema showed little emotion as the magistrate read out the sentence.
Malema’s lawyer immediately appealed against the decision to stop the EFF leader from being taken away to prison. The sentence length could see the 45-year-old being disqualified as a member of parliament.
After being found guilty last October, Malema told supporters outside the court that “going to prison or death is a badge of honour. We cannot be scared of prison [or] to die for the revolution. Whatever they want to do, they must know we will never retreat.”
Malema was once the leader of the youth wing of the governing African National Congress but was expelled following a falling-out with then-President Jacob Zuma. He went on to form the EFF, which became South Africa’s fourth-largest party in the 2024 elections. His prosecution followed a case opened by Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum after the video went viral.
