South African opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of illegally possessing a firearm and discharging it in public.
The conviction stemmed from a 2018 incident during the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) fifth anniversary rally in the Eastern Cape, where a widely circulated video showed Malema firing multiple shots from a semi-automatic rifle into the air.
The AfriForum, an Afrikaner lobby group that has long been at odds with Malema, filed a case against him after the footage of the incident went viral.
In his defence, Malema argued that the weapon did not belong to him and said the shots were intended to energise the crowd. However, the court rejected this explanation as he was later found guilty in 2025 on several counts, including unlawful possession of a firearm, discharging a weapon in a public space, and reckless endangerment.
Magistrate Twanet Olivier who delivered the ruling at a court in East London, South Africa on Thursday said the offence was deliberate rather than impulsive, describing the gunfire as a central feature of the event in question.
The 45-year-old head of the EFF has built a reputation as a fiery and unapologetically radical voice in South African politics, commanding a devoted support base.
Once the leader of the youth wing of the ruling African National Congress, Malema was expelled following a fallout with former president Jacob Zuma. He later founded the EFF, which has since grown into a significant political force, finishing fourth in the country’s 2024 general elections.
After his conviction last year, Malema told his supporters that jail or even death would be “a badge of honour” in pursuit of his political cause. He has pledged to challenge the ruling all the way to Constitutional Court of South Africa.
