Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has been sentenced to an effective five-year term of imprisonment for unlawfully discharging a firearm during the party’s 2018 rally in Mdantsane.
The judgment was delivered by Magistrate Twanet Olivier at the KuGompo City Regional Court, where Malema faced multiple charges stemming from the incident.
According to the court ruling, Malema received five years on the primary count and an additional two years on a secondary count. He was also fined R20,000—or six months’ imprisonment for each of the remaining counts. However, all sentences are to run concurrently, resulting in an effective five-year jail term.
The case relates to an incident at the EFF’s 2018 rally in Mdantsane, where Malema was found guilty of unlawfully discharging a firearm in a public setting, an act deemed to have violated South Africa’s firearms regulations.
Legal analysts say the ruling underscores the judiciary’s stance on the unlawful use of firearms, regardless of political status, while reactions from political observers and supporters are expected to follow as the development continues to generate national attention.
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