Julius Malema, a polarizing figure in South African politics, faces an uncertain political future after being sentenced to five years prison on Thursday following his conviction for firing an assault rifle in public during a 2018 rally. Malema, founder and leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party, built his platform around advocating for the rights of South Africans who feel left out of the country’s post-apartheid prosperity. He has rattled investors with calls to nationalise mines and retake land by force, but his cry for economic justice in one of the world’s most unequal nations attracts millions of Black youths, many of them educated but facing a bleak future in a country where one in three people are jobless.

Full report : South Africa’s Malema faces political crisis after jail sentence in firearm case.