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South African opposition politician Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison for firing a rifle into the air during a political rally, following a ruling by a magistrate’s court on Thursday.
Malema, 45, a prominent figure and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), was convicted in 2025 on five charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm and discharging a weapon in a public place. The charges stem from a 2018 incident at a stadium in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province during the party’s fifth anniversary celebrations.
In delivering the sentence, the court imposed a five-year prison term, along with an additional two-year sentence and a fine of R60,000 or 18 months’ imprisonment, all to run concurrently—effectively leaving Malema with a five-year jail term.
His legal team immediately applied for leave to appeal the ruling at the court in KuGompo City, formerly known as East London. Malema had earlier pleaded not guilty to all charges.
If upheld after the appeals process, the conviction could disqualify Malema from holding public office, dealing a significant blow to the EFF, the fourth-largest party in parliament, which enjoys strong support among young South Africans frustrated by persistent inequality since the end of apartheid in 1994.
