Malema's gun conviction raises questions about his place on JSC

Parliament's representative may no longer meet the test of being 'fit and proper'. By Judith February

- Judith February

Composite graphic. Background original photo: Julius Malema poster outside the Equality Court in Johannesburg on 16 February 2022. (Photo: Fani Mahuntsi/Gallo Images); Assault rifle. (Graphic: Vecteezy); Malema (right) at the East London magistrates' court for the verdict in the firearms case on 29 September. Photos: Lulama Zenzile/Gallo Images/Dirk Burger

(Fani Mahuntsi/Gallo Images Vecteezy Lulama Zenzile/Gallo Images/Dirk Burger)

EFF leader Julius Malema was convicted in the East London magistrate's court earlier this month on charges related to the unlawful possession and discharging of a firearm in public.

Malema had been accused of firing shots from an assault rifle at an event to celebrate the EFF's fifth anniversary at Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape, in 2018. The case was postponed until January 2026 for sentencing.

As Freedom Under Law has pointed out, together with the Council for the Advancement of the Constitution and Defend Our Democracy, this is not Malema's first brush with the law.

Earlier this year, the Western Cape High Court, sitting as an Equality Court, found that remarks made by Malema related to a violent altercation at Brackenfell High School amounted to hate speech and demonstrated a clear intention to incite harm and to promote or propagate hatred.

And in May 2025, the High Court upheld Parliament's finding that Malema had breached its code of ethics for remarks made during a Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interview in 2021, when he used that platform for his personal interests.