South African opposition leader Julius Malema was sentenced to five years in jail on Thursday for firing a rifle in the air at a rally, a judgement that could bar the prominent campaigner from parliament.

Soon after, the 45-year-old was allowed to appeal against his sentence by a magistrate in KuGompo City and released until the case is heard by the high court.

As the hearing was unfolding, hundreds of supporters of his far-left Economic Freedom Fighters group gathered outside the court, wearing the party's trademark red berets and singing campaign songs.

RELEASED PENDING APPEAL

Legal expert Ulrich Roux said Malema would not be transferred to jail while the appeal was pending. Malema has said he will go all the way to the country's top court, the Constitutional Court, a process Roux said could take years.

Malema was convicted last year on five charges after firing the gun at a stadium in Eastern Cape province in 2018.

"It is clear that if crimes are allowed to go unchecked and unpunished, it poses a serious threat to our democratic state," magistrate Twanet Olivier said before delivering the sentence.

Under the constitution, a prison sentence of 12 months or more, if confirmed after all appeals, would bar Malema from serving as a lawmaker.

That would be a major setback for his party, which has strong support among young South Africans frustrated by the racial inequality that has persisted since the end of white minority rule in 1994.

The EFF advocates nationalising mines and seizing land from white farmers.

The court on Thursday sentenced Malema to five years in prison for unlawful possession of a firearm and two years for unlawful possession of ammunition.

It gave him fines for the other three offences, including discharging a firearm in a built-up area, with prison time if he does not pay. The sentences will run at the same time.

Malema, dressed in black suit and shirt with a red tie, was released on a warning, meaning he did not pay bail, but made commitments to appear in court on a future date.

The state prosecutor had told the court it would set a bad precedent if Malema got off without jail time and urged the magistrate to impose the maximum possible sentence of 15 years.

Malema's lawyers had argued he did not intend to cause harm by firing the gun in a celebratory gesture.