11:48
DEFENCE RESPONDS
Senior defence counsel Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC countered that the application for leave to appeal has "excellent" prospects of success.
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EFF leader Julius Malema gets five years direct imprisonment.
Judge Twanet Olivier handed down the sentence on Thursday morning.
His legal team has begun the process of applying for leave o appeal. In an attempt to prevent Mr Malema from being taken away to prison at the end of the proceedings today as would otherwise happen if appeal request isn't granted.
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EFF leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for firing a semi-automatic rifle into the air at an EFF rally in Mdantsane in 2018. Magistrate Twanet Olivier handed down the sentence at the KuGompo City magistrate's court on Thursday morning, at the end of a two-day sentencing proceeding. Follow the latest updates below.Olivier said the matter was not difficult to assess and she would do so in due course. Court has adjourned until around 1pm for lunch.
11:48
DEFENCE RESPONDS
Senior defence counsel Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC countered that the application for leave to appeal has "excellent" prospects of success.
11:40
STATE OPPOSES
Prosecutor Adv Joel Cesar, opposing the application, said there was no reasonable prospect of success — neither on the conviction nor on the sentence, which he described as fair.
11:17
APPEAL
Defence advocate Laurance Hodes is filing an application for leave to appeal the sentence, arguing that Olivier erred in her judgment.
11:09
SENTENCE BREAKDOWN
The breakdown of the sentence, count by count: On count 1, unlawful possession of a semi-automatic firearm, Malema received five years’ imprisonment. On count 2, unlawful possession of ammunition, he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. On each of counts 3, 4 and 5 — the unlawful discharge of a firearm in a built-up area, failing to take reasonable precautions to avoid endangering others, and reckless endangerment of person or property — Olivier imposed a fine of R20 000, or six months’ imprisonment in the alternative should Malema be unable or unwilling to pay. Olivier ordered that counts 3, 4 and 5 run concurrently with count 1. The effective term of imprisonment is five years.
11:06
BREAKING
Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. Further details of the terms of the sentence to follow.
10:47
UPDATE
Court has resumed.
10:23
COMFORT BREAK
Olivier has granted a short comfort break. Proceedings will resume at 10:45.
10:04
FINDING
Olivier said the offence was not impulsive, nor an act of passion or anger. It was planned — "the event of the evening", in her words. Malema knew when and where he would fire. The court had found he returned the rifle afterwards to Adriaan Snyman — his co-accused at the time, since acquitted — and had rejected the defence claim that Snyman handed it to him. Malema knew it was unlawful, knew people could be hurt, and went ahead anyway with the approval of the EFF leadership. This could not be written off as celebratory shots. She had little time for the defence argument that others have fired guns at rallies without being charged. She said she could only deal with the case before her, and trusted those offenders would eventually be brought to court. Accepting the argument that others got away with it, she warned, would not serve society. Olivier also raised the cost
to taxpayers. This was not Malema’s fault, she said — he had every right to go to trial — but the case had swallowed huge resources, including moving firearms between KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape for ballistic testing. The seven-year trial had also tied up court time that others needed, she added, including mothers trying to sort out maintenance orders.
