Malema’s sentence will be overturned in appeal process: Lawyer

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema appears before the KuGompo City Magistrates Court in the Eastern Cape on April 17, 2026.

Lawyers for Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema say they are confident that the five-year direct imprisonment sentence he was handed in the KuGompo City Magistrates Court will be overturned in the appeal process in the higher courts.

Malema was granted leave to appeal his five year direct imprisonment sentence but the court denied leave to appeal the conviction.

He was sentenced to five years imprisonment for unlawful possession of a firearm and a concurrent two year sentence for a lesser charge.

Malema’s lawyer Ian Levitt says, “In respect of sentence, the magistrate has already ruled that there’s a reasonable prospect that another court can come to a different conclusion and obviously we are pretty certain and confident that it will.”

Levitt says, “ You would have seen in court that there is no direct precedent of this and we think that the magistrate took with respect a mature view, and perhaps a higher court can come to a different conclusion and maybe can define what should be done in cases of this nature which is very different to the cases of murder and robbery on convictions with firearms and ammunition.”