*** Media interview contact details for all organisations below the statement
Freedom Under Law, Defend our Democracy, and CASAC note the conviction of Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and a Member of Parliament, on charges relating to the unlawful possession and discharging of a firearm in public on 1 October 2025. Sentencing proceedings are due to begin in January.
In August 2025, the Equality Court found that certain statements by Mr Malema constituted hate speech and demonstrated a clear intention to incite harm and to promote or propagate hatred.
In May 2025, the High Court upheld Parliament’s finding that Mr Malema had breached its Code of Ethics for remarks made during a JSC interview in 2021, when he used that platform for his personal interests.
Mr Malema is a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), having been designated by the National Assembly. But not all individuals appointed to the JSC are fit to decide on who should become judges in our country.
The High Court has recently set aside the designation of impeached former judge John Hlophe, now a member of parliament, as a member of the JSC. The court held that the requirement that members of the JSC be fit and proper is implicit in the Constitution. The judgment is currently subject to an application for leave to appeal.
Although it has also been reported that Mr Malema is planning appeals against both the firearms conviction and the hate speech ruling, these are nonetheless serious findings made by our High Courts that Mr Malema has acted not only unlawfully, but criminally.
The JSC plays a central role in in selecting judges for appointment. Judges are responsible for upholding the Constitution and the rule of law. It would undermine public confidence in the JSC, the process of selecting judges, and indeed the credibility of the entire judiciary for an individual, who is subject to ongoing legal proceedings of this nature, and has made statements attacking the judiciary, to be involved in the judicial selection process.
Following the firearms conviction, the EFF issued a statement which included the comment that “the EFF has accepted that we must continue to fight not only political persecution but also the broader alliance of racist organisations” including “elements of the judiciary”. Mr Malema made similar comments immediately after the conviction when he implied that the magistrate, who convicted him, was racist. The unsubstantiated description of the judiciary as a “racist organisation,” and the scurrilous racial attack by Mr Malema against the magistrate undermines the judiciary, and it is inappropriate for the leader of a political party which has expressed these views to be involved in the selection of judges.
Furthermore, Mr Malema’s conduct, as demonstrated by the firearms conviction, the hate speech finding, and the parliamentary ethics finding, demonstrates that he is not a fit and proper person to serve on the JSC.
We therefore call on Mr Malema to step down as a member of the JSC. Should he decline to do so, we call on the National Assembly to take steps remove him as a member of the JSC.
ENDS
Signed:
Freedom Under Law
Defend Our Democracy
Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC)
Contacts:
For Freedom Under Law
Judith February
083 453 9817
Chris Oxtoby
084 245 1587
For Defend Our Democracy
Naledi Kuali
068 167 8292
Andries Sibanyoni
071 037 6138
For CASAC
Lawson Naidoo
073 158 5736
Dan Mafora
060 763 0471