South African politician Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has been found guilty of firing a gun in public during a party rally in 2018.
Malema was convicted of five offenses, including unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, reckless endangerment, and discharging a firearm in a public space.
The conviction stems from a video showing Malema firing a semi-automatic rifle into the air during the EFF’s fifth-anniversary celebrations in the Eastern Cape province.
The court rejected Malema’s defense that the firearm was not his and that he fired the shots to rouse the crowd.
Malema faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
He has vowed to challenge the judgment, potentially taking it to the Constitutional Court.
The conviction has sparked reactions from various quarters, with some welcoming the ruling as a victory for the rule of law and others criticizing Malema’s actions as emblematic of the EFF’s culture of violence.
