15.04.2026
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NPA pushes for 15-year sentence for Malema over firearm conviction

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  • EFF leader Julius Malema appears in KuGompo Magistrate’s Court, April 15, 2026.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) provincial spokesperson Luxolo Tyali says the state is arguing for a 15-year prison term to be handed down to Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema.

Malema had been found guilty in October last year of firing several shots in front of a crowd during the EFF’s fifth anniversary celebrations in 2018.

Heads of argument for the pre-sentencing proceedings are currently underway in the Magistrate’s Court, KuGompo City, in the Eastern Cape.

Tyali says that the accused’s continued denial despite overwhelming evidence is an aggravating factor.

“We have to look at the person that we are dealing with, and what message we are trying to send in order to make sure that there’s a deterrence in the sentences that we pass. Another aggravating factor is that he still maintains that it’s a political ploy to destroy his career, but doesn’t want to admit in court, even though there’s overwhelming evidence against him. He has not taken the court in his confidence,” says Tyali.

In his presentation, Malema’s advocate Laurence Hodes has emphasised that no charges emanated from previous instances in which firearms were discharged at public events.

“The point is, your worship, if one has regard and I’ve even asked the court to take judicial cognisance of this, that when we watch the funerals of prominent leaders and other people in community, very often there’s a firearm shooting but those people aren’t charged and there’s no case that we were able as a team, and we have a large team, to trace cases that deal with such instances. That’s the point we’re trying to make that it’s very unlikely and it hasn’t happened in the past that people were charged with those offences, even though we see them on TV, on a regular basis,” says Adv Hodes.

Earlier, hundreds of party members picketed outside the court in solidarity with Malema.

EFF spokesperson Thembi Msane says, “We didn’t need to bring the whole country here because we did display the power of the EFF in the previous sitting. However, we are displaying again the power of the EFF in the Eastern Cape and the support for Julius Malema. It’s a sign of a national coordination that the justice system should be respected across the board, across the country.”

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