Cape Town, April 16 (IANS) South African opposition politician Julius Malema was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison for firearm-related offences.

Malema, the founding leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), is one of the most prominent politicians in South Africa.

The lengthy sentence was delivered on Thursday morning at the Magistrate’s Court in KuGompo City, formerly East London, in the Eastern Cape province. Large screens were set up outside the courthouse, where hundreds of EFF party supporters gathered to hear the fate of their political leader, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The charges stem from an incident on July 28, 2018, when Malema discharged a semi-automatic assault rifle into the air during an EFF political rally in Mdantsane, a largely residential township in Eastern Cape province.

The act was described by EFF as a “celebratory shot” during the rally commemorating the party’s fifth anniversary to entertain the crowd, and no injuries were reported.

Malema was convicted in October last year on five charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm and discharging a firearm in a public area.

On Thursday, he was also sentenced to pay a 20,000 rand fine for each of the other three charges, totaling 60,000 rand, or alternatively serve six months’ imprisonment on each count.

The EFF has indicated that it will appeal the court’s decision. If confirmed after all appeals, the sentence would bar Malema from serving as a lawmaker.

Malema served as president of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League from 2008 to 2012.

He went on to form the EFF in 2013 and was elected to the National Assembly in 2014, after his expulsion from the ANC in 2012 for sowing divisions within the party and bringing it into disrepute.

Following the 2024 general elections, the EFF became the fourth-largest political party in the parliament, but chose not to join the Government of the National Unity (GNU).

–IANS

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