Malema return to court for pre-sentencing sake of firearm case
Wia dis foto come from, Bloomberg via Getty Images
Leader of Economic Freedom Fighters [EFF] Party for South Africa, Julius Malema dey appear for East London magistrate court ahead of di judgement wey go happun on Friday 23 January, 2026.
Court bin convict am sake of say e violate di Firearms Control Act last October.
Di court find am guilty of unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition, discharging of firearm for area wey plenti pipo dey and reckless endangerment.
Malema bin fire rifle for air during one EFF rally wey bin happun for Mdantsane for 2018.
Di crowds bin dey cheer am dat time, and im supporters don showface to support am for court.
Di South African opposition politician fit get upto a minimum sentence of 15 years for prison.
For 2018, one video bin show how di Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader bin use one semi-automatic rifle to fire several shots in di air during di fifth anniversary celebrations of im party wey bin happun for di Eastern Cape province for South Africa.
Dem bin charge am with im former bodyguard Adriaan Snyman, wey don dey acquitted.
Court bin also convict Malema of hate speech sake of say e dey always tok about di white minority for di kontri 31 years afta di apartheid end, racial tensions still dey high.
Wetin be di charges against Malema
- E bin dey convicted of hate speech.
- E bin call for di seizure of land wey white-pipo own and e argue say dem suppose do more tins to transfer dia wealth to di black majority.
- Discharging firearm for public place.
- Unlawful possession of firearm.
- Unlawful possession of ammunition.
- Failure to take reasonable precautions to avoid danger to pipo or property.
- Reckless endangerment of a pesin or property.
- Di first charge carry maximum 15-year sentence.
E chop accuse say e fire between 14 and 15 live rounds on top stage in front of 20,000 EFF supporters, according to South African news site SowetanLIVE.
For im defence earlier, Malema tell di court say no be im get di gun wey im bin use fire di shots to ginger di crowd, di publication add.
E take three days for magistrate Twanet Olivier to tell Malema "you dey found guilty as charged".
Di magistrate bin adjourn di case to January 2026 for pre-sentencing.
Malema prosecution bin come afta di Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum, one group wey get gbege wit Malema and di EFF, open case against am afta di video bin go viral.
AfriForum bin also dey among di pipo wey file hate speech complaint against di EFF MP for South Africa Human Rights Commission.
Dis one make South Africa equality court find am guilty for August dis year.
Na afta one incident wia one white man allegedly assault one EFF member, Malema say: "No white man go beat me up... make you no fear to kill. Revolution demand say at some point, killing must happun."
Di equality court bin rule say dis comments "demonstrate intent to incite harm", but di EFF, say dem take dem out of context.
Malema controversy go beyond South Africa.
US President Donald Trump bin show one video of di radical leader during im heated meeting wit South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for di White House for May.
Oga Trump bin use am as part of im "evidence" say di kontri dey commit genocide against white Afrikaners for South Africa - one claim wey many pipo no accept.
One month later, dem deny Malema entry to di UK sake of im support for Hamas and comments about white pipo for South Africa.
Di Home Office tok say dem see am as "non-conducive to di public good".
We go update dis tori
