Man locked up for fake Cele, Ramaphosa images
The Pietermaritzburg Regional Court has convicted and sentenced a 37-year-old man for multiple contraventions of the Cybercrimes Act.
Friday’s conviction stems from incidents occurring between September 2022 and May 2023.
Scebi Nene unlawfully downloaded images of high-profile individuals, including the President of South Africa, a former Minister of Police, his spouse, and a former National Commissioner of the South African Police Service.
“He manipulated these images by superimposing their faces onto pornographic content and subsequently distributed the altered images via WhatsApp and official Presidency email channels,” said Hawks spokesperson Thandi Mbambo.
The matter was reported to the police, and a case docket was handed over to the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team in Gauteng for investigation. Nene was traced and arrested in Pietermaritzburg.
Nene initially appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, after which the case was transferred to the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court.
“Nene was sentenced as follows: five years direct imprisonment for counts 1 to 67 (Cyber Forgery), three years direct imprisonment for counts 68 to 254 (Cyber Uttering and Disclosure of Intimate Data). The court ruled that the sentences will run concurrently, resulting in an effective five-year direct imprisonment term,” Mbambo added.
THREATS AGAINST RAMAPHOSA, CAPE TOWN MAYOR
Meanwhile, another man has appeared before the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court for allegedly making threats against the President, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, and an unnamed chief executive of a Cape Town-based company.
The 28-year-old was arrested in Germiston, east of Johannesburg, on Friday.
“The arrest on Friday, 23 May 2025, follows a case reported earlier this month. On Monday, 12 May 2025, a complainant, who is the Chief Executive Officer of a Cape Town-based company, allegedly received a voice message from the suspect, in which threats were made against the President of South Africa. The suspect is also alleged to have sent multiple threatening messages targeting the complainant, her family, and the Executive Mayor of Cape Town,” said Mbambo.
The matter was reported to the Cape Town-based Hawks’ CATS team, which conducted an investigation that resulted in the suspect’s arrest.
He faces a charge of intimidation.
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