{"id":56125,"date":"2026-04-15T09:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T09:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=56125"},"modified":"2026-04-15T09:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T09:56:16","slug":"npa-pushes-for-15-year-sentence-for-malema-over-firearm-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/04\/15\/npa-pushes-for-15-year-sentence-for-malema-over-firearm-conviction\/","title":{"rendered":"NPA pushes for 15-year sentence for Malema over firearm conviction &#8211; SABC News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) provincial spokesperson Luxolo Tyali says the state is arguing for a 15-year prison term to be handed down to Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema.<\/p>\n<p>Malema had been found guilty in October last year of firing several shots in front of a crowd during the EFF\u2019s fifth anniversary celebrations in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Heads of argument for the pre-sentencing proceedings are currently underway in the Magistrate\u2019s Court, KuGompo City, in the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n<p>Tyali says that the accused\u2019s continued denial despite overwhelming evidence is an aggravating factor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to look at the person that we are dealing with, and what message we are trying to send in order to make sure that there\u2019s a deterrence in the sentences that we pass. Another aggravating factor is that he still maintains that it\u2019s a political ploy to destroy his career, but doesn\u2019t want to admit in court, even though there\u2019s overwhelming evidence against him. He has not taken the court in his confidence,\u201d says Tyali.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">WATCH | EFF\u2019s Marshall Dlamini says the case against their president is nonsensical and aimed at delaying Julius Malema\u2019s political career. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WcuTP7xQEm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/WcuTP7xQEm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SABC News (@SABCNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SABCNews\/status\/2044303358832292295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In his presentation, Malema\u2019s advocate Laurence Hodes has emphasised that no charges emanated from previous instances in which firearms were discharged at public events.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">WATCH | Sentencing proceedings are currently under way in the Julius Malema firearm trial at the Regional Court in KuGompo City. Tune in to SABC News for the live broadcast. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2JcqI5pcbX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/2JcqI5pcbX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SABC News (@SABCNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SABCNews\/status\/2044319103700075005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe point is, your worship, if one has regard and I\u2019ve even asked the court to take judicial cognisance of this, that when we watch the funerals of prominent leaders and other people in community, very often there\u2019s a firearm shooting but those people aren\u2019t charged and there\u2019s no case that we were able as a team, and we have a large team, to trace cases that deal with such instances. That\u2019s the point we\u2019re trying to make that it\u2019s very unlikely and it hasn\u2019t happened in the past that people were charged with those offences, even though we see them on TV, on a regular basis,\u201d says Adv Hodes.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, hundreds of party members picketed outside the court in solidarity with Malema.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">EFF leader Julius Malema\u2019s wife, Mantoa Malema has arrived at the Magistrate\u2019s Court in KuGompo City ahead of her husbands sentencing. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/sabcnews?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">#sabcnews<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/JuliusMalema?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">#JuliusMalema<\/a><br \/>\ud83d\udcf8: Lumko Jimlongo <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vnn3xtfJMV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/vnn3xtfJMV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SABC News (@SABCNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SABCNews\/status\/2044305967953686752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>EFF spokesperson Thembi Msane says, \u201cWe didn\u2019t need to bring the whole country here because we did display the power of the EFF in the previous sitting. However, we are displaying again the power of the EFF in the Eastern Cape and the support for Julius Malema. It\u2019s a sign of a national coordination that the justice system should be respected across the board, across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED VIDEO | Malema Firearm Case \u2013 State pushes for 15-year jail term:<\/strong><br \/><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Malema Firearm Case | State pushes for 15-year jail term\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6uiEok0-hZ4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>                    <!--begin code --><\/p>\n<p>                    <!--end code --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#NPA #pushes #15year #sentence #Malema #firearm #conviction #SABC #News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) provincial spokesperson Luxolo Tyali says the state is arguing for a 15-year prison term to be&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56127,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56125\/revisions\/56127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}