Five years for Malema: South African firebrand jailed over 2018 rally shooting

Julius Malema, the leader of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has been sentenced to five years in prison for firing an assault rifle during a political rally in 2018, a verdict his party has vowed to appeal.

A Magistrate’s Court in KuGompo City (formerly East London) has sentenced the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, to five years of imprisonment for discharging a firearm in public. The sentencing, handed down on Thursday, April 16, 2026, stems from an incident at the EFF’s fifth-anniversary celebrations in Mdantsane in 2018, where Malema was filmed firing a semi-automatic assault rifle into the air. Magistrate Twanet Olivier convicted Malema on five counts, including the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, as well as reckless endangerment. Delivering the sentence, Olivier rejected the defense’s characterization of the event as “celebratory,” noting, “We hear daily, or weekly, of children playing in the front yards, in the street, who are caught in crossfire, random shots fired, killing people. It’s just the first time that we hear, it’s being called celebratory shots.”

The courtroom proceedings were held amid high tension as scores of EFF supporters, dressed in their signature red berets and overalls, gathered outside to protest the verdict. Malema, a prominent Marxist-Leninist and nationalist figure in South African politics, has consistently argued that the charges were a politically motivated attempt by the lobby group AfriForum to silence him. His legal team, led by Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, immediately sought leave to appeal the sentence, arguing for a non-custodial alternative such as a fine or community service. Under the South African Constitution, any Member of Parliament sentenced to more than 12 months in prison without the option of a fine must vacate their seat, placing Malema’s political future and his party’s influence in the National Assembly in immediate jeopardy.

Despite the prison sentence, the EFF leadership remains optimistic that Malema will remain out of custody while the appeal process unfolds. Deputy President Floyd Shivambu indicated that the party is confident in securing bail extension, stating that Malema has been cooperative with the court system since the charges were first brought eight years ago. “The President today is going to sleep at home, that we know,” an EFF spokesperson told supporters after the hearing. However, the prosecution maintained that Malema showed no remorse for his “premeditated conduct” which sent a message to 20,000 supporters that the public discharge of military-grade weaponry is acceptable political entertainment.

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