Calls grow for Malema to step down from the JSC

Various civil society organisations are calling for Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) President Julius Malema to step down from his role in the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which selects the country’s judges.

On 3 October, groups Freedom Under Law, Defend Our Democracy, and the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC) said that Malema’s conduct “demonstrates that he is not a fit and proper person to serve on the JSC.”

They pointed to the recent firearms conviction, a hate speech finding, and the parliamentary ethics finding.

On 1 October 2025, Malema was found guilty by the East London Magistrate’s Court in connection with a firearms discharge incident dating back to 2018.

Malema was convicted of five offences, including the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, discharging it in a public space and reckless endangerment.

The case stems from a rally in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, where he fired shots into the air in front of thousands of EFF supporters.

The first charge carries a maximum 15-year sentence. Sentencing will take place on 23 January 2026.

Two months prior, in August 2025, the Equality Court found that certain statements by 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 Malema had breached its Code of Ethics for remarks made during a JSC interview in 2021.

Malema is a member of the JSC, having been designated by the National Assembly. However, the groups say that “not all individuals appointed to the JSC are fit to decide on who should become judges in our country.”

Earlier this year, the High Court set aside the designation of impeached former judge Dr John Hlophe, now an MP for the MK Party, 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.   

Malema and the EFF are planning appeals against both the firearms conviction and the hate speech ruling.

However, the groups say that “these are nonetheless serious findings made by our High Courts that Mr Malema has acted not only unlawfully, but criminally.”

The groups say that the JSC is central to judicial appointments and that judges must uphold the Constitution and rule of law.

They contend that involving an individual facing ongoing legal proceedings, who has publicly attacked the judiciary, would undermine public confidence in both the JSC and the judiciary.

Following his firearms conviction, the EFF stated it must continue fighting “political persecution” and “elements of the judiciary,” while Malema personally implied the magistrate who convicted him was racist.

These statements, the groups argue, unfairly portray the judiciary as biased and make it inappropriate for him, as a political leader, to participate in judicial selection.

“We therefore call on Mr Malema to step down as a member of the JSC,” where he has been serving since 2014, said Freedom Under Law, Defend Our Democracy, and the CASAC.

“Should he decline to do so, we call on the National Assembly to take steps remove him as a member of the JSC.”

EFF appeal

Speaking to supporters after the gun ruling, Malema alleged that Afriforum and others have been out to get him.

“As a revolutionary, going to prison is a badge of honour,” he told supporters. He added that after sentencing in January, the EFF “will immediately put an appeal.”

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the EFF said that the decision was no surprise, “because the racist right-wing Donald Trump has openly issued an instruction for Malema’s arrest, regardless of whether there is a legitimate case or not.”

The party alleged that the judgement is part of a wider pattern of politically motivated prosecutions against its president.

“We will engage in the judgement further, seek comprehensive legal advice, and move with the attention to appeal this ruling, trusting that higher courts will expose the weaknesses and contradictions of this prosecution.”

The EFF youth command said that “this prosecution has been a maliciously dragged-out political lynching, devoid of any credible evidence and directly aimed as an attempt in silencing the EFF and the CIC.”

“President Malema’s only “crime” has been to stand for Black and working-class South Africans against the tyranny of white monopoly capital.”