Man Arrested For Pornographic Images Overlaid With Faces Of President Ramaphosa Did Not Appear In Court

The 34-year-old man who was detained in KwaZulu-Natal for allegedly violating the Cyber Crime Act after the distribution of pornographic photos including the faces of the police minister and president Cyril Ramaphosa was absent from court on Monday.

Following his arrest in Azalea, Pietermaritzburg, the Hawks reported on Sunday that the guy would appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday for allegedly violating the Cyber Crimes Act.

Colonel Philani Nkwalase, a spokesman for the Hawks, told IOL on Monday that the individual was “not court ready” and would not appear until Tuesday.

“The police officers who went to fetch him arrived (in Pretoria) very, very late so he could not appear today (Monday). He was not court ready, with regard to the documentation,” said Nkwalase.

“The documentation was not ready so he will appear only tomorrow (Tuesday). The court has been moved to Tuesday, due to the traveling. We believed that we could make it on time.

“It is still going to be the same court, the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, but the appearance is on Tuesday.”

On Sunday, the Hawks announced that the 34-year-old was arrested by the Gauteng Crimes Against the State (Cats) team together with the Pietermaritzburg-based Serious Organised Crime Investigation team of the Hawks.

“The investigation about pornographic images of unknown individuals with superimposed faces of the President, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, Minister of Police, Honourable Bheki Cele, and his wife commenced at the beginning of May,” Nkwalase said at the time.

“The images were distributed to police officers and members of the public on social media platforms.”

In late 2022, an explicitly graphic video depicting the Speaker of the Free State Legislature; Ntombizanele “Zanele” Beauty Sifuba indulging in online s*x was leaked.

The leaked video went viral on social media platforms, with many users claiming that it was an incident of revenge porn, after a bid to extort money from Sifuba.