Julius’s courtroom minyan

Tension crackled through the air in the KuGompo City Magistrate’s Court, as protesters clad in Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) red danced and sang their support outside. Inside the courtroom, Magistrate Twanet Olivier sternly read the sentences in her heavy Afrikaans accent. 

On count one, EFF leader Julius Malema would be sentenced to five years in prison for the unlawful possession of a semi-automatic firearm. Then two years for the illegal possession of ammunition, and fines of R20 000 each for discharging a firearm in public, failing to take precautions, and reckless endangerment. None of the sentences was suspended, and Malema’s lawyers immediately appealed both. 

The sentences were striking, particularly when contrasted with those of former Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, who received a wholly suspended sentence, albeit three years, for discharging a Glock at Tashas restaurant in Melrose Arch. The distinction, of course, is that Pistorius’s actions were deemed accidental, while Malema’s appeared premeditated and calculated political theatre, designed to portray him as a revolutionary leader, but endangering the lives of the 20 000 people gathered in the stadium when he effectively “went postal”. 

According to the South African Constitution, a sentence exceeding 12 months’ direct imprisonment, without the option of a fine, effectively disqualifies the EFF commander in chief from assuming a seat in Parliament for five years. 

Malema will, of course, appeal the sentences and follow the “Stalingrad defence” strategy used by former president Jacob Zuma, who has successfully avoided his corruption trial for more than two decades. 

Perhaps more surprising was the scene inside the courtroom. In the front rows sat a group of Malema supporters, almost all of them wearing kippot, the traditional Jewish head covering. Indeed, among the very few not wearing kippot were Malema’s own Jewish legal team, attorney Ian Levitt and senior counsel Laurance Hodes. 

Malema is a member of the Lemba community, a group of between 50 000 and 150 000 people, primarily in Limpopo province and southern Zimbabwe, who claim Jewish ancestry. In recent years, many Lemba have increasingly embraced Jewish customs, the wearing of kippot is now a common expression of identity within this predominantly Venda-speaking cultural group. 

When Malema’s grandmother, who raised him, passed away in 2019, the funeral was conducted by a Lemba “rabbi”, clad in a tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl, and waving a stick. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many television viewers were surprised when Dr Rudo Mathivha, then head of the intensive care unit, and later trauma and critical care, at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, used the phrase “Baruch Hashem”, the Hebrew expression for “Thank G-d” during a live television interview. She is, of course, Lemba. 

Other notable figures associated with the Lemba community include Hannah Sadiki, the chief executive of Bidvest Financial Services and a fellow trustee of the Afrika Tikkun Investment Trust, and businessman Nick Selamolela, who previously served on the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, formally converted to Judaism, and is a member of the Chabad community. 

The Lemba were first documented by Swiss missionary Henri-Alexandre Junod in the early 1900s. According to oral tradition, a small group of men had left the Middle East by sea, travelling down the East African coast before settling in what is now Zimbabwe and South Africa. 

Many Lemba customs echo those of Judaism. They abstain from eating pork and shellfish, avoid mixing milk and meat, practise circumcision, and incorporate the Star of David into clothing and gravestones. Lemba graves are often oriented towards Jerusalem – though some claim Mecca –  and stones are placed on them as a sign of respect. 

Genetic studies on the Lemba in the late 1990s and early 2000s, led by British historian Tudor Parfitt, suggested evidence of Semitic origins, including a high prevalence of the so-called Cohen Modal Haplotype, or “Cohen gene”, associated with high priests of the Jewish people, the descendants of Aaron. However, Professor Scott Hazelhurst of the University of the Witwatersrand has contested this, arguing that the concept of a “Cohen gene” itself rests on flawed data and misinterpretation. 

Today, most Lemba identify as Christian or Muslim, with traditional practices syncretised into those faiths. At the same time, a growing number are exploring a move to Jewish religious identity. The Lemba Cultural Association continues to promote heritage and identity, hosting regular conferences in Limpopo that often feature Jewish and Israeli speakers. 

In 2024, social media personality Rudy Rochman, also known as Rudi Israel, who documents journeys to so-called “lost Jewish tribes”, attended the Lemba conference in Limpopo. Among those in attendance was Malema himself, wearing a kippah adorned with a prominent Magen David. 

The following year, the Lemba community was visited by Caribbean Jewish content creator and diversity educator Yirmiyahu Danzig, who goes by the name @that_semite on social media, during his trip to South Africa for Limmud. 

At Malema’s sentencing, Lemba elders arrived in numbers, occupying the front rows of the courtroom, proudly wearing their kippot. When asked how a man so visibly connected to the Lemba community could adopt such an aggressively anti-Israel stance, some elders offered a striking explanation. Malema, they say, is “on-side”, he just gets money from the other side to propagate these views. 

That claim is impossible to verify. But the image of Malema being escorted into court by kippah-wearing Lemba elders will linger as one of the most unexpected and enduring visuals of his trial. 

• Howard Sackstein has a degree in law and international relations, an LLB, and a Master’s in political advocacy and international conflict resolution. He is an outspoken human rights activist and political commentator. He served as executive director of the Independent Electoral Commission and worked on the CR17 Ramaphosa campaign. He is chairperson of the SA Jewish Report but writes in his personal capacity.