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Prominent South African opposition politician Julius Malema has been sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison by a court after finding him guilty of illegally possessing a gun and saying he fired for the public.
But Magistrate Twenet Ollivier did not allow the Economic Freedom Fighters leader and MP to appeal the verdict and sentence, meaning he would not go to jail immediately.
The length of this sentence prevented the 45-year-old from being eligible to become an MP again.
Earlier, as he stood in court dressed in a dark suit and red tie, Malema showed little emotion as Magistrate Twainette Ollivier read the sentence.
Last year the court convicted Malema of five offences, including illegally possessing firearms and ammunition, discharging them in a public place and recklessly endangering.
Di's charge relates to an incident in 2018, when a video emerged showing Malema with a semi-automatic rifle firing several shots into the air during my party's fifth anniversary celebrations held in Kontri, Eastern Cape province.
A sentence of more than one year will not disqualify me from becoming an MP, but I cannot apply until I have exhausted my opportunities to appeal.
To defend himself, Malema told the court that he would not get a firearm and that he would open fire on the crowd, South African news site SowetanLIVE reported at the time.
But during the sentencing, Ollivier said, “Don't do anything that you do by mistake. This incident happened in the evening,” AFP news agency reports.
She says that even though I am politically prominent it will have no impact on their findings, they have got a large number of followers in South Africa and I feel they are responsible for my actions.
Malema had a long-standing reputation as an outspoken, charismatic and radical leftist politician and enjoyed a loyal group of supporters.
Many supporters of IM are standing outside the court and they are supporting Malema by shouting slogans and singing revolutionary songs.
Malema once became the leader of the youth wing of the ruling African National Congress. But he was expelled from the party after a falling out with President Jacob Zuma and formed the EFF.
Wisdom Malema says force South Africans to confiscate white Pipo's land, along with pleas asking the government to do more to transfer wealth to black people to give them a majority, the EFF gets a share of the vote in the ANC. It became the fourth largest party in the country for the 2024 elections.
“Going to jail or death is a mark of honour,” Malema told supporters outside an east London court.
“We should not be afraid of going to jail (or) dying for the revolution. Whenever they want, they should not say that we will never back down.”
I have also pledged that I will take my case to South Africa's highest court, the Constitutional Court.
The Malema prosecution came with the Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum, they received information from AM&D EFF, a case was opened against Malema after the video went viral.
AfriForum also got a hand in the conviction against the politician.
Last August, the Equality Court found me guilty of hate speech after some comments I made to a 2022 rally.
After an incident in which a white man allegedly attacked an EFF member, Malema said: “No white man kills me… No one is ever afraid to kill. The demand for revolution says at some point, there must be killing.”
The Equality Court Bin Rules say the comments “demonstrate an intention to cause harm”, but the D EFF Tok say they take Dia's comments out of context.
Profile: Julius Malema
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Julius Malema had a reputation for challenging boundaries.
My speeches for Parliament meetings always make waves on social media. The party I built from scratch almost 11 years ago has grown to become the third largest party in South Africa and my reach extends not just within South Africa, but to countries across the continent.
I am the life force, plus my radical ideology inspires so many frustrated South Africans. But the 45-year-old leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has many critics, they accuse me of opportunism and they always use my conviction for hate speech against me.
Dame was born in Malema in 1981 and was raised by my housemaid mother Flora. E grew up to Seshego, a township in the northern Limpopo province.
My school final year results leak shows that the future firebrand Bin managed to pass with below average marks. A far cry from the man who didn't get two university degrees as he led the EFF to political prominence.
Oga Malema said that I joined the ANC's youth pioneer movement at the age of nine, I trained in armed resistance, and it took me just five years to become regional head of the ANC Youth League.
But I became a major player in national politics after being elected as leader of the ANC Youth League in 2008.
As leader I began campaigning noisily for Oga Zuma to bring Oga to power – first as ANC leader and later as President – and told a crowd of supporters that I was going to “kill for Zuma”.
But Oga Malema's relationship with Oga Zuma soon came to a head following Zuma's biennial presidency in 2009.
Malema Bin accused the former premier of ignoring poor voters to come to power.
After being banned from the ANC, E form d'EFF for 2013.
The view is that the ANC has distanced the IMF from the Dia support base and core values are not my concern.
However, Oga Malema had recently alleged that he was betraying and promoting leftist ideology.
For 2013, the South African Revenue Authority says the party leader owes more than $1 million (£865,000) in unpaid taxes.
To pay off tax arrears, Malema Gaetz sold an unfinished mansion in the upmarket Sandton suburb of Johannesburg, which includes a cinema room and cigar lounge.
E is also charged with fraud and corruption related to a government contract. After three years, he dropped the charges out of court for 2015.
He always denies the allegations and says they are politically motivated.
As of 2018, Malema is one of a group accused of looting approximately 2 billion rand ($108 million; £86 million) from a bank named VBS. Malema dismissed the allegations as nonsense and a parliamentary investigation into Di Mata was later closed without conclusions as investigators said they did not receive “sufficient information”.
Oga Malema's supporters always enjoy my speeches, and I am an inspirational speaker, whose sharp focus on the rights of poor black South Africans earns me their love.