A South African court sentenced radical left-wing opposition leader Julius Malema to five years in jail on Thursday for firing a rifle into the air at a rally eight years ago.
Hundreds of red-clad supporters of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party leader gathered outside in centres across the country to follow the sentencing live in the politically charged case.
Malema, who is known for fiery speeches, was released on warning after the court in the city of KuGompo, formerly East London, gave permission for his team to appeal the sentence with another court.
Magistrate Twanet Olivier said Malema, 45, had deliberately violated firearm laws by shooting a gun in the air at an EFF rally in 2018.
Malema’s defence said the shots were only intended to be celebratory.
“The decision to break the law has been made and it was made with the approval of the accused person and the leadership,” the magistrate said.
“It wasn’t... an impulsive act,” she said, adding Malema “knew that it may cause harm to persons or property.”
The state had been seeking the maximum 15-year jail term for Malema, who was found guilty in October.
With the jail sentence, Malema stands to lose his seat in parliament but this is pending the outcome of the appeal.
The EFF -- a small but vocal party inspired by Marxism -- says the case is an attempt to silence its outspoken leader.
The sentence was “a travesty of justice, persecution, and only and totally politically motivated,” senior EFF parliamentarian Carl Niehaus tweeted.
“It’s a terrible day for us EFF. They must not dare jail him,” party supporter Brenda Van Rooyen told AFP at a gathering of around 300 people in central Johannesburg.
The magistrate stressed earlier it “is not a political party who has been convicted here... it is a person, an individual.”
The EFF won under 10 percent of votes in the 2024 general elections and has 39 seats in parliament.
Malema’s sentencing was welcomed by the centre-right Democratic Alliance, the second largest political party in the country after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress.
“Gun violence is out of control in South Africa, so any crime involving illegal gunfire is extremely serious. It’s important to punish illegal firearm crimes harshly,” party leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said.
The case against the EFF leader was brought by the small, conservative group AfriForum.
Malema has long been criticised by AfriForum, notably for his use at rallies of an anti-apartheid chant, “Kill the Boer” -- a word that often refers to the country’s minority white Afrikaner population.
The far-right group says it is hate speech and incites anti-white violence.
While the chant is controversial in South Africa, courts have ruled it does not constitute hate speech and should be considered in the context of the struggle against white-minority rule, which ended in 1994.
The Afrikaner lobby group has brought its long-standing complaints against Malema to the attention of US President Donald Trump.
Trump showed clips of Malema chanting the slogan at talks at the White House with Ramaphosa in May last year.
“But why wouldn’t you arrest that man?” Trump asked Ramaphosa, referring to Malema.
The Trump administration has offered refugee status to South Africa’s white Afrikaners on the grounds that they face persecution, which is strongly denied by the government.
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