EFF leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to 5 years direct imprisonment by the East London Magistrate's Court this morning. Malema was trialed for the contravention of the Firearms Control Act and had been convicted on 5 counts. The 5 year prison sentence is inclusive of a 2 year sentence for count 2, which would be served concurrently to count 1's 5 year sentence. He has also been sentenced to R60K in fines, or 18 months combined imprisonment for the other 3 counts. Malema has also successfully applied for leave to appeal the sentencing and will be petitioning the higher courts for a leave to appeal his conviction as well. We unpack all of this and make sense of the consequences for Malema, the EFF and the South African political landscape.