{"id":32145,"date":"2026-04-16T15:10:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=32145"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:12:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:12:59","slug":"sas-malema-faces-political-crisis-after-jail-sentence-in-firearm-case","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sas-malema-faces-political-crisis-after-jail-sentence-in-firearm-case\/","title":{"rendered":"SA&#8217;s Malema faces political crisis after jail sentence in firearm case"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Julius Malema, a polarizing figure in South African (SA) politics, \u200bfaces an uncertain political future after being sentenced to five years prison on Thursday following his conviction for firing an assault rifle \u200cin public during a 2018 rally.<\/div>\n<div>Malema, founder and leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, built his platform around advocating for the rights of South Africans who feel left out of the country&#8217;s post-apartheid prosperity.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He has rattled investors with calls to nationalise mines and retake land by force, but his cry for economic justice in one \u200bof the world&#8217;s most unequal nations attracts millions of Black youths, many of them educated but facing a bleak future in a country \u200bwhere one in three people are jobless.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Malema, 45, was arraigned for firing \u2060a gun into the air during his party&#8217;s fifth birthday in 2018 in Eastern Cape province, in violation of the Firearms Control Act.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He had \u200bpleaded not guilty, arguing the gun was a toy, and his lawyers appealed the sentence on Thursday.<\/div>\n<div>His party calls the case a &#8220;witch hunt.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>If upheld, the sentence would \u200bdisqualify Malema from serving as a member of parliament\u00a0 casting doubt on his ability to retain his enduring influence on South Africa&#8217;s political landscape. His EFF is the fourth-biggest party, with roughly 10% of seats in the lower house of parliament.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;For him now, it might just be the end of the road,&#8221; independent Political Analyst Ralph Mathekga said. &#8220;The \u200bparty had no plan regarding succession &#8230; (It is) difficult to imagine the EFF without Malema.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Nicknamed &#8220;Juju&#8221; by his supporters, Malema was youth leader of the ruling \u200bAfrican National Congress.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Malema&#8217;s refusal to stop singing &#8220;Kill the Boer (farmer)&#8221; &#8211; an apartheid-era resistance song &#8211; has been interpreted in far-right chat rooms and by United States President Donald Trump as a call \u200cto murder \u2060white farmers, who own most of the land due to a history of seizures by colonial then white minority rulers.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Critics have accused Malema , a self-declared Marxist of hypocrisy, saying his opulent lifestyle, including luxury cars and homes, clashes with his anti-elite messaging.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Malema&#8217;s frequent response is that he does not need to be poor to champion the poor&#8217;s cause. In January, in \u2060an address to \u200bhis party faithful, he said: &#8220;Being a revolutionary is about the content of your mind \u200band not what clothes you wear or what cars you drive.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Malema has also faced allegations of corruption, which he denies. In 2015, a court threw out money laundering charges against him \u200brelating to government contracts.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":32149,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-32145","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Malema, 45, was arraigned for firing \u2060a gun into the air during his party's fifth birthday in 2018","published_date":"","news_description":"Malema, 45, was arraigned for firing \u2060a gun into the air during his party's fifth birthday in 2018.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32153,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32145\/revisions\/32153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=32145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}