“There is justice in South Africa. Its wheels turn slower than peak hour traffic in Joburg, but it turns.”
The recent conviction of Julius Malema for firearm offences was a notable event, not only for Malema and South African politics, but for the casual podcast consumer.
When news like this breaks, you can clearly sample the different flavours of response. Podcasts add a sense of intimacy to these events. When you can see and hear the commentators, you get a sense for the ‘feel’ of a thing which goes beyond the cold, hard facts of a news report on Media 24. From my quick flip-through of all the channels, the left and the right felt distinctly different on the topic of Malema. (For the purposes of this report, I don’t review X or social media comments left on the various podcast channels. I evaluate the official broadcast material and interviews of various commentators.)
From where I am sitting, the Right erupted into a colourful and joyous celebration, while the Left responded with a more measured, sombre tone. I am not sure if Renaldo Gouws could hold his own doing a toyi-toyi in a protest march, but he toyi-toyied with his face when the news broke. “Yes, guilty!” he said, fists pumping and smiling broadly. “You are a criminal! Haha!” Nuuspod, whose presenters resemble an NG Kerk nagmaal committee, behaved with wonderful restraint. They should not be expected to break into a toyi-toyi of any kind, not only due to moral objections, but also physical limitations. However, they managed a type of moral sakkie-sakkie as they chided Malema for criticising the magistrate. In beautiful and hoog Afrikaans, they said: “One should have the intellectual and emotional maturity to not find fault with a person just because they ruled against you in a case. Maybe it is time for you to admit you were wrong and learn something.”
In contrast, the EFF’s own podcast mentioned the judgment at the end of one of their update sessions, the presenter with eyes half-mast, quietly stating: “We would like to say that we would like to commend and respect our CIC for respecting the rule of law and appearing without fail for the trial that lasted seven long years. And we commend him that not one drop of blood has been spilled in his name. We would like to let everyone know that the EFF will be appealing the ruling.” Malema himself was much less defiant than he was in the original trial, underplaying the potential impact of the ruling. While right-leaning podcasts positioned this as a ‘seismic shift’, Malema told his people: “Go back to your branches. It is business as usual.” Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh’s show delivered a lengthy legal analysis of the judgment, avoiding political or emotional attachments to the case. Mpofu-Walsh, who has one of the largest podcasts in the country with over 320,000 subscribers, is the son of former EFF National Chairman Dali Mpofu. I am guessing he thought carefully about how to handle the news of the conviction and ended up with a clean, clinical delivery, albeit with a concerned tone and marked annoyance that the judgment took three days to read.
The Daily Friend Show is a safe centrist space for measured political commentary and analysis. It blends facts with humanity, and wit with incisiveness, without the performative antics that often go with podcasting. Amongst the IRR (Institute for Race Relations) publications and affiliated podcasts, one gets a good spread of ideas about what potential implications and political impact this ruling could have. Should Malema be sentenced to jail time for more than a year, he would be barred from returning to Parliament, and, depending on how the legal processes play out, might only be able to return to active EFF politics in 2029 or later. Hermann Pretorius of the IRR said that, in the event of a jail term, the EFF could do well positioning him as a martyr, while rejuvenating current lacklustre EFF leadership structures, which took a knock with the expulsion of prominent members and the popularity of MK. He added that the EFF and MK were competing for the same audience, and that Zuma’s return to politics was a blow to Malema personally, as well as to his party. People now had to pick between the original and the copy. “Why book an Elvis impersonator when Elvis is still alive?” asked Pretorius. “Why buy from Temu when Takealot delivers to your door?”
People are hedging their bets when it comes to guessing whether Malema will do actual jail time, with predictions ranging from wishful thinking that he will, to hoping that he won’t. Certainly, the magistrate, whose voice was already failing after reading out loud for three days, will feel enormous pressure when passing sentence. I would like to point out at this stage that Malema has been convicted twice in two months, once for hate speech and now for these firearms charges: a fact that I have not heard any other podcaster mention,. Both times, the ruling was by an Afrikaans female. Coincidence? Perhaps. Or maybe it is the Helen Suzman effect, where one female, by meticulously doing the work properly and not bowing to political pressure, gets more done than many teams of high-powered, huffing and puffing men. This is a Tawwe Tannie trend we should be more grateful for.
Where most observers agree is that, when the NPA put their mind to something, they can get results. We can only hope this vigour and determination translate into the conviction of many of the ANC politicians guilty of corruption. Sama Sambit from the Truth Report delivered an energetic performance to this sentiment on the Malema conviction. It is a constant niggle that guys on this platform proclaim that they have some objective handle on what the ‘truth’ is. Their victim-consciousness and persecution complex are unattractive to me, and it is positively irksome when they argue that, because their reach is bigger than that of the Daily Maverick, their popularity proves they are talking the ‘truth’. However, on this matter, Sambit was eloquent and entertaining. Sama is a showman. His deliveries are calculated, well-researched, scripted, and rehearsed. His face beamed as he said:
“Justice actually exists in South Africa – in 2025. Do you understand what just happened? A South African court just held a powerful politician accountable for breaking the law.” He said he did not think he would live to see this day. “This verdict is a crack in the armour of impunity that has protected powerful people for decades. That deserves true celebration. That deserves recognition. Give this woman a Bells. She just restored more power to South Africa than Eskom has in 10 years.”
Viva!
PRS survey
The Podcast Report Survey is a random sample of ordinary South Africans I come across while writing a piece. On the way to the supermarket, I asked two young ladies what they thought of Malema’s conviction. Just by taking one look at them, one could tell they lived in a household where toyi-toying was something everyone knew how to do.
They had no knowledge of the court case, but the image of Julius with his arm raised in defiance, holding the gun, was familiar to them as a symbol of heroism and resistance. “Malema, he is very good. He is very … (indicates with her hands that talks well and presents well.)” I said I agreed that he was an excellent orator and cinematic figure. One can forgive the ladies for not having my vocabulary.
They were only 12 and 9, but I understood her perfectly. Her re-enactment of him brandishing the semi-automatic rifle was crystal-clear. Moreover, we were all wearing Crocs, and Croc users have a shared understanding of life. Their Crocs were pink and had little Checkers Mini tokens in them, which is all the craze in my neighbourhood at present. There was dog food, Doom, and Sunlight liquid decorating their shoes, which made a nice contrast with my plain brown-beige numbers. “Malema must carry on,” said the 12-year-old. “I trust him. He will make South Africa more better.” I said I agreed that we all want South Africa to be more better.
This Podcast Report will be presented in podcast form on the Daily Friend Show on 15 October.
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
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