South Africa’s Julius Malema Sentenced After Gun-Firing Case

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1405 EAT on Thursday 16 April 2026

South African opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to prison after discharging a rifle into the air during a political rally.

Malema, who heads the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), received a five-year sentence on Thursday from Magistrate Twanet Olivier.

Malema, one of South Africa’s most high-profile politicians, was convicted last year on charges including unlawful possession of a firearm and discharging a weapon in a public place, stemming from a 2018 incident at a stadium in Eastern Cape province.

The 45-year-old leader of the fourth-largest party in parliament denied the charges, maintaining that the weapon involved was a toy gun.

Malema’s lawyers applied for leave to appeal the magistrate’s ruling within minutes of it being delivered in court in KuGompo City, formerly East London, on Thursday.

Outside the court, hundreds of supporters dressed in the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) signature red gathered for the sentencing in a politically charged case.

The maximum sentence for the offence is 15 years in prison. If a custodial term of more than 12 months is ultimately upheld after all appeals, Malema would be barred from serving as a Member of Parliament.

Such an outcome would mark a major setback for the EFF, which draws significant support from young South Africans frustrated by persistent racial and economic inequality since the end of apartheid in 1994.

-Aljazeer

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