South African opposition politician Julius Malema has been found guilty of discharging a firearm in public seven years ago.

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.

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

This is Malema’s second conviction in less than two months and he could face up to 15 years in prison.

Malema often sparks controversy in a nation where, 31 years after apartheid ended, racial tensions still high. He was recently convicted of hate speech.

Malema and Mr Snyman were charged with the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, discharging it in a public space and reckless endangerment among others. The first charge carries a maximum 15-year sentence.

He was accused of firing between 14 and 15 live rounds on a stage in front of 20,000 EFF supporters, according to South African news site SowetanLIVE.

In his defence, Malema told the court the firearm was not his and that he had fired the shots to rouse the crowd, the publication added.

It took three days for magistrate Twanet Olivier to tell Malema “you are found guilty as charged”. The case was postponed to January 2026 for pre-sentencing.

Malema’s prosecution came after Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum, which has a contentious relationship with Malema and the EFF, opened a case against him after the video went viral.

AfriForum was also among those who laid a hate speech complaint against the EFF MP at South Africa’s Human Rights Commission.

This resulted in his conviction by the country’s equality court in August this year.

After an incident where a white man allegedly assaulted an EFF member, Malema said: “No white man is going to beat me up… you must never be scared to kill. A revolution demands that at some point there must be killing.”

The equality court ruled that these remarks “demonstrated an intent to incite harm”, but the EFF said they were taken out of context.