Johannesburg/Cape Town, April 16, (dpa/GNA) – The leader of South Africa’s opposition party, Julius Malema, has been sentenced to five years in prison without parole for violating the Firearms Act.
The 45-year-old head of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party will begin serving his sentence immediately, Judge Twanet Olivier said at the Magistrates’ Court in KuGompo City, formerly East London, on Thursday. Malema’s lawyer said he would appeal.
In 2018, Malema fired several live rounds into the air during a party celebration. He did not hold a firearms licence for the semi-automatic rifle.
The party leader, in whom great hopes had been placed as a young politician, was found guilty in October, and the sentencing has been pending since then.
The judge said the court had concluded that Malema fired the weapon not out of impulsiveness or anger, but in a planned manner. In doing so, he had deliberately put those present in danger. The defence had described the shots as “salutes.”
Malema joined the ruling African National Congress (ANC) at the age of nine, at a time when the party was in the final stages of its struggle against the racist apartheid regime.
After Nelson Mandela took office in 1994 as South Africa’s first black president, Malema rose rapidly through the party ranks. In 2012, however, he was expelled from the ANC.
A year later, Malema founded the EFF, which positions itself as a radical, left-wing and anti-capitalist movement.
For several years Malema has faced numerous allegations ranging from money laundering, fraud and corruption to embezzlement of party funds and hate speech. He has also come under criticism for his lavish lifestyle, which stands in stark contrast to his political rhetoric.
GNA