By Johnnie Isaac
KUGOMPO CITY, South Africa, April 16 (Reuters) - South African opposition leader Julius Malema was sentenced to five years in jail on Thursday for firing a rifle in the air at a rally, a judgement that could bar the prominent campaigner from parliament.
The 45-year-old stayed in court in KuGompo City as magistrates considered whether to accept an appeal against the sentence. It was not immediately clear if that process would delay his transfer to prison.
Malema, head of the far-left
Economic Freedom Fighters, the fourth-biggest party in parliament, was convicted last year on five charges after firing the gun at a stadium in the Eastern Cape province in 2018.
"It is clear that if crimes are allowed to go unchecked and unpunished, it poses a serious threat to our democratic state," magistrate Twanet Olivier said before delivering the sentence.
The court sentenced Malema to five years in prison for unlawful possession of a firearm and two years for unlawful possession of ammunition.
It gave him fines for the other three offences, including discharging a firearm in a built-up area with prison time if he doesn't pay. The sentences will run at the same time.
SETBACK FOR MALEMA'S FAR-LEFT PARTY
According to South Africa's constitution, a prison sentence of 12 months or more, if confirmed after all appeals, would bar Malema from serving as a lawmaker.
That would be a major setback for his party, which has strong support among young South Africans frustrated by the racial inequality that has persisted since the end of white minority rule in 1994.
The Economic Freedom Fighters advocate nationalising mines and seizing land from white farmers.
The state prosecutor had told the court on Thursday it would set a bad precedent if Malema got off without jail time and urged the magistrate to impose the maximum possible sentence of 15 years.
Malema's lawyers had argued he did not intend to cause any harm by firing the gun in a celebratory gesture, and called for a more lenient sentence such as a fine.
($1 = 16.3842 rand)
(Additional reporting by Anathi Madubela, Nilutpal Timsina and Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo;Editing by Alexander Winning and Andrew Heavens)
