Leading
South
African
opposition
politician
Julius
Malema,
45,
has
been
sentenced
to
five
years
after
being
found
guilty
of
the
illegal
possession
of
a
gun
and
firing
it
in
public.
But
Magistrate
Twanet
Olivier
allowed
the
leader
of
the
Economic
Freedom
Fighters
and
MP
to
appeal
against
the
sentencing,
meaning
that
he
was
not
immediately
taken
to
prison.
Earlier,
standing
in
court
in
a
dark
suit
and
red
tie,
Malema
showed
little
emotion
as
Olivier
read
out
the
sentence
even
though
his
political
future
was
at
stake.
Last
year,
he
was
convicted
of
five
offences,
including
the
unlawful
possession
of
a
firearm,
discharging
it
in
public
and
reckless
endangerment.
Reuterswas
able
to
leave
court
and
greet
his
supporters
as
the
appeal
process
has
now
begun
If
his
sentence
is
upheld,
Malema
would
be
disqualified
from
being
an
MP
for
five
years.
However,
political
analyst
Sandile
Swana
told
the
BBC
that
the
appeals
process
was
likely
to
take
several
years
so
the
EFF
leader
would
be
able
to
pursue
his
political
career
in
the
meantime.
The
charges
related
to
an
incident
in
2018
when
a
video
emerged
showing
Malema
firing
a
semi-automatic
rifle
in
the
air
during
his
party’s
fifth
anniversary
celebrations
held
in
the
country’s
Eastern
Cape
province.
During
the
trial
in
KuGompo
City,
which
is
the
new
name
for
East
London,
Malema
told
the
court
that
he
had
fired
the
shots
in
celebration.
South
Africa’s
Julius
Malema
marks
10
years
of
the
EFF
But
during
her
sentencing
ruling
Olivier
said
“it
wasn’t…
an
impulsive
act.
It
was
the
event
of
the
evening,”
the
AFP
news
agency
reports.
She
added
that
while
his
political
standing
had
no
bearing
on
her
findings,
he
was
someone
who
had
a
large
following
in
South
Africa
and
should
account
for
his
actions.
Addressing
some
of
those
followers
outside
court,
he
made
a
series
of
unsubstantiated
allegations
against
Olivier
and
said,
without
offering
direct
evidence,
that
the
conviction
and
sentencing
were
a
result
of
a
conspiracy.
“They
are
trying
by
all
means
to
silence
this
voice.
They
will
never
win,”
AFP
quotes
him
as
saying.
“We
are
fighting
the
enemy
and
the
enemy
is
white
supremacy.”
Malema
has
a
long
reputation
as
being
an
outspoken,
charismatic
and
radical
left-wing
politician
and
has
a
loyal
band
of
supporters.
Hundreds
had
come
to
back
Malema
with
chants
and
revolutionary
songs.
When
news
came
through
that
he
would
be
allowed
to
appeal,
they
started
calling
out
in
the
Xhosa
language
“sigoduka
naye”,
which
translates
as
“we
are
leaving
with
him
today”.
party
supporters
have
been
out
in
force
to
show
their
solidarity
Malema
was
once
the
leader
of
the
youth
wing
of
the
governing
African
National
Congress.
But
after
being
expelled
from
the
party,
following
a
falling-out
with
then
President
Jacob
Zuma,
he
went
on
to
form
the
EFF.
With
Malema’s
calls
for
the
seizure
of
white-owned
land
and
arguments
that
more
should
be
done
to
transfer
wealth
to
the
black
majority,
the
EFF
ate
away
at
the
ANC
share
of
the
vote.
It
became
the
country’s
fourth
largest
party
at
the
2024
elections.
After
being
found
guilty
last
October,
Malema
was
quoted
as
telling
those
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.”
He
also
vowed
to
take
a
challenge
to
the
judgment
up
to
South
Africa’s
highest
court,
the
Constitutional
Court.
Malema’s
prosecution
came
when
Afrikaner
lobby
group
AfriForum,
which
has
a
contentious
relationship
with
him
and
the
EFF,
opened
a
case
against
Malema
after
the
video
went
viral.
The
secretary-general
of
the
ANC,
which
leads
a
10-party
coalition
government
that
does
not
include
the
EFF,
expressed
sympathy
with
Malema.
“The
main
message
we
are
being
told
here
by
the
racist
AfriForum
is
that
if
we
dare
stand
up
for
black
people,
dare
stand
up
for
the
marginalised
and
dare
stand
up
for
our
generational
mission
we
will
be
targeted,”
Fikile
Mbalula
wrote
on
X
in
response
to
Thursday’s
sentencing.
AfriForum
has
previously
said
it
condemns
all
forms
of
racism
and
a
spokesperson
said
this
case
was
about
“reckless
and
illegal
actions”
and
not
race.
The
organisation
also
had
a
role
in
another
conviction
against
Malema.
Last
August,
he
was
found
guilty
of
hate
speech
by
the
equality
court,
following
remarks
he
made
at
a
rally
in
2022.
After
an
incident
where
a
white
man
allegedly
assaulted
an
EFF
member,
Malema
said:
“No
white
man
is
going
to
beat
me
up…
you
must
never
be
scared
to
kill.
A
revolution
demands
that
at
some
point
there
must
be
killing.”
The
equality
court
ruled
that
these
remarks
“demonstrated
an
intent
to
incite
harm”,
but
the
EFF
said
they
were
taken
out
of
context.
Malema
has
also
been
criticised
for
chanting
a
song
that
includes
the
words
“shoot
the
Boer
(Afrikaner);
shoot
the
farmer”
at
his
political
rallies.
US
President
Donald
Trump
brought
this
up
during
a
tense
White
House
meeting
with
South
African
counterpart
Cyril
Ramaphosa
last
May.
Afrikaner
lobby
groups
have
tried
to
get
the
song
banned,
but
South
Africa’s
Supreme
Court
of
Appeal
has
ruled
that
a
“reasonably
well-informed
person”
would
understand
that
the
song,
which
dates
from
the
fight
against
white-minority
rule,
was
not
meant
to
be
taken
literally
and
so
was
not
hate
speech.
Additional
reporting
by
Nobuhle
Simelane
Post
published
in:
Featured