LEADING South African opposition politician Julius Malema, 45, has been sentenced to five years after being found guilty of the illegal possession of a gun and firing it in public.
But Magistrate Twanet Olivier allowed the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters and MP to appeal against the sentencing, meaning that he was not immediately taken to prison.
Earlier, standing in court in a dark suit and red tie, Malema showed little emotion as Olivier read out the sentence even though his political future was at stake.
Last year, he was convicted of five offences, including the unlawful possession of a firearm, discharging it in public and reckless endangerment.
If his sentence is upheld, Malema would be disqualified from being an MP for five years. However, political analyst Sandile Swana told the BBC that the appeals process was likely to take several years so the EFF leader would be able to pursue his political career in the meantime.
The charges related to an incident in 2018 when a video emerged showing Malema firing a semi-automatic rifle in the air during his party’s fifth anniversary celebrations held in the country’s Eastern Cape province.
During the trial in KuGompo City, which is the new name for East London, Malema told the court that he had fired the shots in celebration.
But during her sentencing ruling Olivier said “it wasn’t… an impulsive act. It was the event of the evening,” the AFP news agency reports.
She added that while his political standing had no bearing on her findings, he was someone who had a large following in South Africa and should account for his actions.
Addressing some of those followers outside court, he made a series of unsubstantiated allegations against Olivier and said, without offering direct evidence, that the conviction and sentencing were a result of a conspiracy.
“They are trying by all means to silence this voice. They will never win,” AFP quotes him as saying. “We are fighting the enemy and the enemy is white supremacy.”
Malema has a long reputation as being an outspoken, charismatic and radical left-wing politician and has a loyal band of supporters.
Hundreds had come to back Malema with chants and revolutionary songs.
When news came through that he would be allowed to appeal, they started calling out in the Xhosa language “sigoduka naye”, which translates as “we are leaving with him today”.
Malema was once the leader of the youth wing of the governing African National Congress. But after being expelled from the party, following a falling-out with then President Jacob Zuma, he went on to form the EFF.
With Malema’s calls for the seizure of white-owned land and arguments that more should be done to transfer wealth to the black majority, the EFF ate away at the ANC share of the vote. It became the country’s fourth largest party at the 2024 elections.
After being found guilty last October, Malema was quoted as telling those outside the court that “going to prison or death is a badge of honour”.