Malema Will No Longer Qualify To Be An MP Any More Because of
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema no longer qualifies to be a Member of Parliament.
This comes after he was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment for unlawful possession of a firearm. He was also sentenced to two years in jail for unlawful possession of ammunition. For counts three, four and five, Malema was sentenced to a six months in jail with an option of R20,000 fine for each.
Malema will effectively serve five years in jail as the court decided the sentences for counts two to five will run concurrently with the sentence imposed for count one.
He was found guilty of five counts of the charges relating to the Firearms Control Act in October last year.
Malema fired shots in front of a build-up area during the party’s fifth year birthday celebration in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape in July 2018.
According to legal expert Mpumelelo Zikalala, for one to continue as a Member of Parliament, a sentence must not go over 12 months imprisonment and must not have an option of a fine.
He adds that Malema’s political position has no bearing on how the sentence is meted out. This is despite Malema calling the case political, which Magistrate Twanet Olivier was at pains to deny during the delivery of her sentence.
