Leading South African opposition politician Julius Malema, 45, the head of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party and a member of parliament, has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of illegal possession of a firearm and discharging it in public. However, Magistrate Twanet Olivier granted him leave to appeal the verdict and sentencing, meaning Malema will not be taken to prison immediately.

During the court proceedings, Malema, dressed in a dark suit and red tie, showed little emotion as the sentence was read out, even though his political future hung in the balance. Last year, he was convicted on five charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm, discharging it in public, and reckless endangerment.

The charges stemmed from a 2018 incident when a video surfaced showing Malema using a semi-automatic rifle to fire several shots into the air during his party's fifth-anniversary celebrations in the Eastern Cape province. At the trial in KuGompo City (formerly East London), Malema told the court that the firearm was not his and that he had fired the shots to energize the crowd.

In her sentencing ruling, Magistrate Olivier stated that "it wasn't... an impulsive act. It was the event of the evening." She added that while his political standing had no bearing on her findings, he was someone with a large following in South Africa and should be held accountable for his actions.

Addressing supporters outside the court, Malema made a series of unsubstantiated allegations against Olivier and claimed, without providing direct evidence, that his conviction and sentencing were the result of a conspiracy. He also vowed to challenge the judgment all the way to South Africa's highest court, the Constitutional Court.

Malema has long been known as an outspoken, charismatic, and radical left-wing politician with a loyal band of supporters. Hundreds gathered to back him with chants and revolutionary songs. When news broke that he would be allowed to appeal, they began chanting in the Xhosa language "sigoduka naye," which translates to "we are leaving with him today."

Malema once led the youth wing of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) but was expelled from the party after a falling-out with then-President Jacob Zuma, going on to form the EFF. With his calls for the seizure of white-owned land and arguments that more should be done to transfer wealth to the black majority, the EFF eroded the ANC's share of the vote and became the country's fourth-largest party in the 2024 elections.

Malema's prosecution began after the Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum, which has a contentious relationship with him and the EFF, opened a case against him following the viral video. AfriForum also played a role in another conviction against the politician: last August, he was found guilty of hate speech by the equality court for remarks made at a rally in 2022.

Source: www.bbc.com