‘Badge of honour’: According to South African law, Julius Malema will be ineligible to pursue his dreams of becoming president of the country if his appeal against both conviction and sentence fails. Photo: EFF
Firebrand Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema’s presidential ambitions suffered a blow this week when the East London Magistrate’s Court found him guilty on five firearm-related charges. He will be sentenced in January in a court case that dates back to 2018.
Malema has indicated he will appeal the court’s decision and is adamant that the charges are politically motivated to stop his rise to the presidency and to cripple his party, which has championed land expropriation without compensation and the end of white monopoly capital.
According to South African law, Malema will be ineligible to pursue his dreams of becoming president of the country if his appeal against both conviction and sentence fails.
The law says a person convicted and sentenced to more than 12 months in prison without the option of a fine cannot run for the highest office in the land. Malema has publicly announced his intention to become president in the future.
Outside the court on Wednesday, Malema denounced the ruling as racist and politically motivated.
“We are not fighting the case; we are fighting racism. Pure racism that we have been subjected to for the past seven years,” he said.
“As a revolutionary, going to prison or death is a badge of honour.
“We cannot be scared of going to prison or dying for the revolution. Whatever they want to do, they must know that we will never retreat from the seven cardinal pillars of the EFF and, at the centre of those, is the expropriation of land without compensation,” said Malema.
Malema said after sentencing on 23 January, he will “immediately put an appeal” to the Supreme Court.
He added that he will add advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi to his legal team and plans to take the case up to the Constitutional Court.
The conviction relates to a 2018 incident in which Malema fired a semi-automatic rifle loaded with live ammunition during an EFF rally at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane, East London, in front of about 20 000 supporters.
Video footage of the incident went viral on social media and was accepted by the court as authentic, corroborated by the Gearhouse events company.
Malema was found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, discharging a firearm in a public place, failing to take reasonable precautions to avoid danger and reckless endangerment of people or property.
Legal expert Ulrich Roux told the Mail & Guardian that Malema faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years unless he can provide good reasons for leniency.
“During his testimony, he was evasive and sarcastic. When asked who fired the gun, Malema said, ‘It was the hand of God,’” Roux said.
He added that Malema’s claim that he had fired a “toy gun” had been dismissed, undermining his credibility. “It was a semi-automatic firearm. He is going to get the minimum sentence which is 15 years unless he can show compelling evidence otherwise,” Roux said.
If Malema is sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine, he will be barred from serving as a member of parliament or holding political office, Roux said.
Although he has signalled his intention to appeal, Roux noted that he may only do so after sentencing and his prospects of success are slim.
“Remorse forms part of the appeals process and, based on Malema’s statement after court, he did not seem remorseful,” Roux said.
AfriForum, which laid the charges in 2018, welcomed the judgment as a “long-awaited victory”, stating justice had been served — despite years of delays and irregularities in the case, it said in a statement.
“The evidence overwhelmingly proved that Malema committed several serious offences under the Firearms Control Act, and the verdict confirms that those who think they are untouchable will eventually be held accountable, no matter how long it takes,” said spokesperson Jacques Broodryk.
AfriForum argued that, without its intervention, the case might never have been prosecuted. The group has previously failed to nail him on other charges, including hate speech.
While the Equality Court recently found him guilty of stating “never be scared” and “killing is a revolutionary act” at an EFF rally, the charge did not carry a prison sentence.
Malema is no stranger to the courts. He faced fraud and racketeering charges in 2012 related to the awarding of a road construction contract to Limpopo-based Onpoint Engineering, in which he was involved.
The case was dismissed due to delays by the National Prosecuting Authority.
In 2014 Malema faced tax evasion charges, which he subsequently settled with the South African Revenue Service.
In another application, the Constitutional Court dismissed AfriForum’s appeal in June in its efforts to bar Malema from singing the “Kill the Boer” song, which the apex court declared does not constitute hate speech.
Parliament’s police portfolio committee chair Ian Cameron said that the guilty verdict spoke to more than Malema’s conduct, it spoke to broader societal violence within politics.
“This case is not simply about Malema’s conduct, but also about the culture of chaos, violence and criminality that the leader of the EFF embodies and promotes,” he said.
“A man who fires live rounds at a political rally demonstrates exactly the kind of thuggery the EFF is prepared to unleash on South Africa,” Cameron said.
The EFF issued a statement dismissing the verdict as a “witch hunt” and “politically motivated prosecutions”.
“It is no surprise that the state has pursued this matter to this point, for there have always been coordinated attempts to discredit and sabotage the EFF and its leadership,” it read.
It alleged that the case was pursued not because of evidence but to sabotage the party’s leadership due to pressure from white lobby groups and Western countries.
“We are not shocked by the outcome of the judgment, because the racist right-wing Donald Trump has openly issued an instruction for the arrest of the president [Malema], regardless of whether there is a legitimate case or not,” the party claimed.