South African fined P10, 000 for misleading Covid-19 post

Charmine Wendy Ebrahim was this week fined P10 000 by Chief Magistrate Basetsana Keakantse of Selebi-Phikwe for spreading false information about Covid-19. The 35-year-old who is of South Africa origin but residing in Selebi-Phikwe was arrested in March after alleging that there were confirmed Covid-19 cases in the copper mining town. Of those, she alleged two were ladies from her home country. The untruthful information was shared through her social media account.Her case was brought before court on the a day after her arrest, where Ibrahim was granted conditional bail and ordered to surrender all her travelling documents to the investigating officer. Selebi-Phikwe station commander Meshack Pulenyane revealed this week that the South African was charged with a single count of offensive electronic communication contrary to Cyber Crime and Computer Related Crime Act, 2018.Pulenyane said the false information shared at the time was misleading and had the potential to send the public into unnecessary panic.“The lady is expected to settle the P10 000 fine by the end of October or face a 6-month imprisonment,” he said. Pulenyane said the outcome should serve as a warning to many to desist from spreading false allegations especially on social media. He said social media is a powerful information dissemination tool, reaching thousands in a short period of time. During this pandemic, the police boss said all should rely on verified communication to prevent false alarms that lead to social unrest.