• SAPS has welcomed the conviction and sentencing of a man for Cyber Fraud.
• The man posted to social media that “some people” were planning to assassinate President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2023.
• The NPA has welcomed the five-year sentence and hopes it acts as a detterent.

While many are frustrated at the lack of service delivery across South Africa, voicing that frustration with violent intent online may be a bad idea.

On Wednesday the South African Police Service (SAPS) welcomed the sentencing of Elrico Kaizer Kasper, a 38-year-old man from De Aar for Cyber Fraud. He has been sentenced to five years direct imprisonment.

Back in March 2023, Kasper posted to social media that “some people” were planning to assassinate President Cyril Ramaphosa during his Human Rights Day visit to De Aar.

“A disruptive operation consisting of Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation team and Crime Intelligence was operationalized and the team located the said accused. He was then taken in for questioning and he admitted to have posted such, citing the frustration of unemployment,” SAPS wrote in a media statement.

Following several court appearances, Kasper was convicted and sentenced on Monday.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has welcomed the sentencing and hopes it acts as a deterrent to others.

The SAPS goes on to add that, “people should be aware that dissemination of false information through social media platforms, will lead to people being prosecuted”. This is possible, as this conviction demonstrates, under section 8 of the Cybercrimes Act linked above.

While it has taken a year to prosecute this individual, the fact that a conviction has happened is good news for the fight against cybercrime in South Africa. What remains to be seen is whether this extends to other crimes aside from threats against the President.

With elections happening in under a week, misinformation is getting worse so and we’ve outlined ways to get accurate information from reliable sources.

To those who are spreading misinformation that could harm somebody, stop that. You’re going to be caught and could land up in prison.

[Image – Lisa Kennedy from Pixabay]