Overview
- The KuGompo City Regional Court, which sentenced him Thursday, imposed an effective five-year custodial term and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
- Magistrate Twanet Olivier said the rifle fire at the EFF’s July 2018 Mdantsane rally was deliberate and not impulsive, a conclusion based on widely circulated video evidence.
- The court stood by the convictions but granted leave to appeal the five-year term, which keeps Malema out on bail while a higher court reviews the punishment.
- Prosecutors pressed for the 15-year maximum to deter reckless gun use in crowded spaces, while Malema’s lawyers argued the shots were celebratory or from a toy and vowed to take the case to higher courts.
- A prison term longer than 12 months would, if upheld after all appeals, disqualify Malema from Parliament, and the sentencing drew large EFF crowds as police deployed to maintain order.