{"id":3226,"date":"2026-04-18T07:22:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T07:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226"},"modified":"2026-04-18T01:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T01:53:15","slug":"malema-sentenced-to-five-years-in-firearm-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226","title":{"rendered":"Malema sentenced to five years in firearm case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>South African opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of firing a rifle into the air at a political rally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A magistrate\u2019s court delivered the ruling on Thursday, sentencing the 45 years old politician over a 2018 incident at a stadium in Eastern Cape province, where he discharged a weapon in a public place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Malema, a prominent figure in South African politics, was convicted last year on multiple charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm and reckless discharge of a weapon. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His legal team swiftly applied for leave to appeal the sentence shortly after it was delivered in a court in KuGompo City, formerly known as East London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If upheld after the appeals process, the sentence could disqualify Malema from holding public office, dealing a significant blow to his Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EFF, currently the fourth-largest party in parliament, has built a strong following among young South Africans, particularly those frustrated by persistent inequality since the end of apartheid in 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities say the case marks a significant moment in enforcing firearm laws, as the country continues to grapple with public safety concerns. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arise.tv\/malema-sentenced-to-five-years-in-firearm-case\/\">(AriseNews)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South African opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of firing a rifle into the air at a political rally. A magistrate\u2019s court delivered the ruling on Thursday, sentencing the 45 years old politician over a 2018 incident at a stadium in Eastern Cape province, where [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[3372,3373,3371,244],"class_list":["post-3226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign","tag-economic-freedom-fighters","tag-firearm","tag-julius-malema","tag-south-africa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Malema sentenced to five years in firearm case - Tona Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South African opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of firi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Malema sentenced to five years in firearm case - Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South African opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of firi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-18T07:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Julius-Malema.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tona.Today\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477\"},\"headline\":\"Malema sentenced to five years in firearm case\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-18T07:22:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226\"},\"wordCount\":210,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Julius-Malema.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Economic Freedom Fighters\",\"firearm\",\"Julius Malema\",\"South Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Foreign\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226\",\"name\":\"Malema sentenced to five years in firearm case - Tona Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Julius-Malema.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-18T07:22:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"South African opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of firi\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Julius-Malema.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Julius-Malema.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3226#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Malema sentenced to five years in firearm case\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tona Today\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Tona Today\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":117,\"caption\":\"Tona Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477\",\"name\":\"Tona.Today\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tona.Today\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Malema sentenced to five years in firearm case - Tona Today","description":"South African opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of firi","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Malema sentenced to five years in firearm case - Tona Today","og_description":"South African opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of firi","og_url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226","og_site_name":"Tona Today","article_published_time":"2026-04-18T07:22:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Julius-Malema.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tona.Today","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tona.Today","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226"},"author":{"name":"Tona.Today","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/person\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477"},"headline":"Malema sentenced to five years in firearm case","datePublished":"2026-04-18T07:22:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226"},"wordCount":210,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Julius-Malema.jpg","keywords":["Economic Freedom Fighters","firearm","Julius Malema","South Africa"],"articleSection":["Foreign"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226","name":"Malema sentenced to five years in firearm case - Tona Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Julius-Malema.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-18T07:22:00+00:00","description":"South African opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of firi","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Julius-Malema.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Julius-Malema.jpg","width":800,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3226#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tona.today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Malema sentenced to five years in firearm case"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/","name":"Tona Today","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization","name":"Tona Today","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg","width":500,"height":117,"caption":"Tona Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/person\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477","name":"Tona.Today","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tona.Today"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/tona.today"],"url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?author=2"}]}},"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3226"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3228,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3226\/revisions\/3228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}