South African firebrand MP Malema convicted of firing a gun in public

SOUTH AFRICA: South African opposition politician Julius Malema has been found guilty of discharging a firearm in public seven years ago – an offence which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

In 2018, a video emerged showing the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader firing several shots in the air during his party’s fifth anniversary celebrations held in the country’s Eastern Cape province.

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He was charged alongside his former bodyguard Adriaan Snyman, who was acquitted.

Malema was convicted of hate speech less than two months ago and often lashes out at the white minority in a country where, 31 years after apartheid ended, racial tensions still run high.