WATCH | Guilty Malema vows to appeal firearm ruling all the way to the ConCourt

The East London magistrate's court has found EFF leader Julius Malema guilty of discharging a rifle during a 2018 rally.

However, Malema said he will go all the way to the highest court in the land to appeal the decision.

He was addressing a crowd outside the court on Wednesday.

“We leave here highly determined. We are going to fight this up until the Constitutional Court,” he said.

This follows magistrate Twanet Olivier’s ruling that the defence failed to disprove the state’s case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Malema was convicted in the 2018 firearms case after video evidence showed him discharging a rifle during an EFF rally in the Eastern Cape.

However, his security guard Adriaan Snyman was not found guilty on all charges. The pair faced allegations of contravening the Firearms Control Act, including the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Malema said he was singled out in the case and is not afraid to go to prison.

We leave here highly determined. We are going to fight this up until the Constitutional Court

—  Julius Malema, leader of EFF

“She [Olivier] released accused number two, which is highly appreciated. Because we know that from the beginning they have been looking for me. They were not looking for accused number two. They were just playing games and today they came out openly. As a revolutionary, going to prison or death is a badge of honour.

“We cannot be scared of prison. We cannot be scared to die for the revolution. So whatever they want to do, they must know we will never retreat from the ideas,” he said.

He said party members should not be discouraged by the guilty verdict, as they will appeal it.

“We are coming on the 23rd of January for sentencing. And after sentencing, we will immediately put an appeal so that we can go to the higher court because we think the judgment is faulty.”

He said the strategy has always been “you must try to charge Malema with everything”.

The judgment, he said, was for racist reasons “to appease the AfriForum, to appease the oval office of Donald Trump, to appease all the white supremacists of South Africa who want to undermine the dignity and the strength of black people”. 

Malema also questioned why Snyman was acquitted while he was found guilty though the courts had stated that he was the one who gave him (Malema) the firearm.

“Now they are releasing him, which means he didn't give me the firearm. Why are you not releasing me when you released a person who allegedly gave me the firearm? By releasing accused number two, the whole case should have collapsed. But the racist was looking for me. That's why they could not collapse the case,” he said.

The matter is postponed to January 23 for sentencing.

Malema said members should focus on the upcoming elections.

“So fighters, let's go back home, build strong branches of the EFF, let's prepare for local government elections... We are building the EFF brick by brick until it becomes a strong house that takes over Buffalo City (a municipality in the Eastern Cape).

“When we leave here, we are going back to our branches. It's business as usual. Never mind this nonsense. Don't take it to heart. Let's go and build our organisation,” he said.

He also referenced the Madlanga commission and how the country needs rescuing by the EFF based on what has been revealed there.

“You can see what is happening in the commission there; SA has been sold to criminals and criminal cartels and this country must be rescued.

“Only you can rescue this country by working strong on the ground and by being united as fighters of the EFF. We don't have two EFFs; we've got one EFF under president Julius Malema and there is no other EFF.

“So let's focus. Let's not allow those who divide us to divide this organisation. The country is rotten. The country is looking for an alternative and you are the alternative,” Malema said.

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