On Thursday, April 16, 2026, a court in South Africa handed down a five-year prison sentence to the prominent opposition figure, Julius Malema. The charge? Discharging a firearm at a political rally back in 2018. If the sentence holds, the man who leads South Africa’s third-largest party will be barred from Parliament, potentially ending his career as a central protagonist in that country’s rowdy democracy.
To many, this is a clear-cut case of the rule of law. Malema fired a weapon into the air; it was reckless, and he is being held accountable.
But if we pull back the lens and look at the broader landscape of the continent – specifically at Nigeria – a much more troubling pattern emerges. It’s a pattern of what I call “Selective Accountability,“ where the law is a hammer for the opposition and a shield for the ruling elite.
THE NIEGERIAN PARADOX
In Nigeria, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has presided over a climate where violence isn’t just a theatrical flourish – it’s a political strategy. During the recent election cycles, we saw documented cases of state-sponsored thuggery:
- Violence as Policy: Voters were harassed, maimed, and in some cases, killed, all while attempting to exercise their basic constitutional right.
- The Impunity Gap: Unlike Malema, who faces prison for a shot that hit no one, the Nigerian actors who oversaw the actual shedding of blood face almost no legal consequences.
THE JUDICIAL FORTRESS
This brings us to the most vital organ of any democracy: the judiciary. In South Africa, the courts have shown a willingness to be rigid, even punitive, toward political actors. But in Nigeria, the judiciary has increasingly functioned as a rubber stamp for power.
Time and again, when election results are challenged on the grounds of systemic violence, Nigerian courts have retreated into the safety of “technicalities.“ They demand a level of proof that is almost impossible to provide when the state itself is the aggressor. By dismissing these challenges, the courts aren’t just upholding an election; they are validating the violence used to win it.
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?
The great danger here is that we are witnessing a divergence in how “order“ is defined.
- In South Africa, the system is hyper-sensitive to the symbolism of disorder – punishing a politician for playing soldier.
- In Nigeria, the system has become comfortable with the reality of disorder, provided that disorder serves the interests of those in the Presidential Villa.
The lesson is sobering. Democracy cannot survive when “the law“ is used to prune the opposition for their theatrics while allowing the ruling party to maintain power through actual carnage.
Until Nigeria’s courts hold a ballot-box snatcher to the same standard South Africa holds a rifle-wielding orator, the “Public Square“ will remain a very uneven playing field. Justice, in these cases, isn’t being served – it’s being weaponized.