South Africa’s opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to at least five years in prison after being found guilty of the illegal possession of a gun and firing it in public.
Malema’s lawyer said he would be appealing against the decision to prevent the leader of the from being taken away to prison.
Standing in court in a dark suit and red tie, Malema showed little emotion as the magistrate read out the sentence.
Malema was convicted of five counts last October including violating the Firearms Control Act after firing live rounds during his party’s birthday celebrations in 2018.
Handing down her sentence in a packed court room, Magistrate Twanet Olivier said the court has had sufficient time to read, peruse, and digest what has been presented by the defence.
She said in reaching the verdict, the court considered several factors including the seriousness of the offence and that Malema was a first-time offender with no outstanding offences.
“The sentence imposed should fit the offender as well as the crime. It must be fair to society and blended with a measure of mercy according to the circumstances of each matter,” Olivier said ahead of sentencing.
She said it was “nonsensical” that the defence was “sugar coating” the discharge of the firearm as a celebratory shot, adding that Malema knew what he was doing was unlawful.
Olivier said the events that unfolded were pre-planned ahead of the EFF’s birthday bash celebrations.
“It wasn’t an impulsive act. It wasn’t anger. It was the event of the evening. It should take considerable planning for an event of that magnitude as to how, when, and exactly at what time you will take possession of the firearm and where you will fire it from. To reason any otherwise is nonsensical.”
“This decision has been made and it was made with the approval of the accused person and the leadership. The accused knew it would cause harm to persons or property and yet proceeded to possess the rifle and to fire the shot in celebration. This decision was made long before the actual event. Such acts cannot be condoned by this court in any instance and further justify the commission of crime that it was a celebration,” she added.
She added whether the discharge of the firearm was done in less than a minute, the impact remains the same.
