KuGompo City, South Africa – EFF leader Julius Malema has partially succeeded in his appeal, with a magistrate standing firm on his conviction while agreeing to grant him the opportunity to contest his five-year prison sentence before another court.
Magistrate Twanet Olivier delivered the ruling on Thursday, 16 April 2026, at the East London Regional Court in KuGompo City in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.
Olivier had found Malema guilty on five counts, including unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful discharge of a firearm, failure to take reasonable precautions to avoid danger to a person or property, and reckless endangerment to a person or property.
The sentence handed down was five years in prison for the first count, two years for the second, and a R20 000 fine or six months imprisonment for the remaining three charges, all of which run concurrently with the five-year term. Malema was additionally declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Malema wasted no time in filing an appeal against both the conviction and the sentence immediately after it was handed down.
Olivier was unmoved on the question of guilt when she addressed the appeal. “This court abides by its decision as stated on record. This court has not had a change of heart and clearly stands firm on its decision to convict,” the magistrate said.
She nonetheless granted the appeal against the five-year sentence, accepting that a higher court might reach a different outcome on the question of punishment. “This court does not have any intention to stand in the way of such a possibility,” she said.
Malema will remain free on a warning while the appeal works its way through the courts.
The case has its roots in a video that circulated widely in July 2018, showing Malema firing what appeared to be a rifle at the EFF’s fifth anniversary celebrations held at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane. He made his first court appearance in August 2021, but persistent delays meant the trial only got underway in March 2022. Olivier noted that evidence was heard over 31 days across a period spanning more than seven years. A Section 174 application by the defence to have the charges thrown out was dismissed in October 2023, before Malema was ultimately found guilty in October last year.
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