TheEconomic Freedom Fighters(EFF )is bracing for a politically fraught period as party leaderJulius Malemaawaits sentencing in a firearm case on Friday, a moment that could test the party’s reliance on its founding president and reshape its internal dynamics ahead of 2026 local government elections. Last year theEast London Magistrate’s CourtconvictedMalemaon charges related to the discharge of a firearm at the EFF’s fifth anniversary rally in Mdantsane in 2018. He had fired a rifle into the air while addressing supporters.
His bodyguard and co-accused Adriaan Snyman was acquitted. Malema said he would appeal the conviction in a case he called politically motivated. The state argued that he recklessly endangered lives.
The court is scheduled to hand down sentencing on Friday. Possible penalties the EFF leader faces range from a fine or suspended sentence to imprisonment. The party this week reiterated its rejection of the judgment and confirmed it was appealing it.
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An official told theMail & Guardian: “We are confident that a higher court that is less emotional will come to a completely different conclusion based on the merits given to the magistrate during this trial. We have to appeal this nonsensical judgement.” The appeal process will probably delay finality. The conviction has prompted questions about what the out- come could mean for a party whose political identity has, for more than a decade, been inseparable from Malema.
Courts can impose a suspended sentence, depending on the mitigating factors, said Shadi Maganoe, a law lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand. “Courts have discretion when deciding sentences and they often consider factors such as whether the person has prior convictions, shows remorse or poses a limited risk to the public,” Maganoe told theM&G. Under Section 47(1)(e) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, any person who has been convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine is dis- qualified from serving as a member of parliament and barred from hold- ing public office for five years after the completion of the sentence.
“Under the Firearms Control Act, discharging a firearm in a public area or in a way that could endanger people carries a prison term of up to 15 years, though there is no manda- tory minimum,” Maganoe said. “Whether the sentence is custo- dial or suspended will determine if he (Malema) keeps his parliamen- tary seat. Until a decision is made, the legal and political consequences remain significant.” A custodial sentence of less than 12 months or a suspended sentence is a more plausible fate for Malema, senior legal practitioner Ulrich Roux said, “given the circumstances of the
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