South African prosecutors seek 15-year sentence for Julius Malema firearm case

South African prosecutors sought a 15-year prison sentence for Julius Malema on Wednesday, pressing a case that could reshape both the Economic Freedom Fighters leader’s future and the limits of political impunity in South Africa. Malema returned to the magistrate’s court in KuGompo City, formerly East London, after his conviction last year on five counts tied to a rifle fired into the air at an EFF rally in 2018, including unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and discharging a firearm in a public area.

The state argued that a light penalty would send the wrong message in a country still wrestling with violent political language and high-stakes populism. Prosecutor Joel Cesar told the court that Malema was “a lawmaker who breaks the law,” framing the sentence fight as a test of equal justice rather than an ordinary criminal matter. The prosecution said political leaders carry outsized influence and that younger supporters may imitate what they see, making the case bigger than one rally stunt at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane, in the Eastern Cape.

The legal stakes reach far beyond prison time. Under section 47 of South Africa’s Constitution, anyone convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine is barred from serving in the National Assembly. The Constitutional Court applied that rule in 2024 when it found Jacob Zuma disqualified after his 15-month contempt sentence. If Malema receives a sentence that crosses that threshold and survives appeal, he could be forced out of Parliament, a serious blow to the EFF, the fourth-largest party in the chamber.

That would carry political consequences for a movement Malema and Floyd Shivambu announced in Soweto on 27 July 2013 as a radical and militant force for economic emancipation. The EFF has drawn much of its strength from younger South Africans angered by the racial inequality that endured after the end of white minority rule in 1994. Malema has denied wrongdoing and said the rifle was a toy, while his lawyers have pushed for a far lighter penalty, including a fine. His former bodyguard, Adriaan Snyman, was acquitted and discharged. Outside court, hundreds of supporters gathered behind Malema as he said he would appeal whatever sentence he received. AfriForum, which filed the complaint that helped trigger the prosecution, said it expected a fair and serious sentence and warned that leniency would erode trust in the judiciary. The judge adjourned the matter to Thursday, keeping one of South Africa’s most volatile political cases alive and unresolved.