Pornographic material on group sparks outrage

MBOMBELA - Sparks flew this week among journalists who are members of the Mpumalanga Hawks WhatsApp group, regarding extremely explicit pornographic material that was posted on it.

At least 14 posts were sent by “Hluziman” on the group on Tuesday.

After a storm of complaints erupted from group members, they asked that not only should the pornographic material be removed from the group, but also the sender. All but two of the 12 posts were removed. However, one of the posts is still active on the group. It is a sex scene between a man and woman.

One of the posts was deleted by Captain Dineo Sekgotodi, the spokesperson for the Hawks and the group’s administrator.

“Please arrest him”, “Put him in WhatsApp jail” and “This is unacceptable and deliberate too” were some of the sideswipes taken at him by group members.

In response, the sender posted “Phone error um very sorry college’s.” [sic]

Some of the posts supporting Hluziman read, “The guy made a mistake and apologised. Let’s laugh this out and move on”, while another warned “Distributing pornographic content is a serious crime that can lead to sever penalties, including jail time.”

Sekgotodi, despite requests to have Hluziman removed, said, “Please, colleagues, let’s forgive him. We are family and we need one another. I want us to learn and grow together on this platform. No one is perfect, but we are striving to do better every day. If possible, can we close the chapter?”

When approached by Lowvelder for comment, Sekgotodi said, “I can’t comment on something out of my scope of responsibility.”

In the meantime, the newspaper established that Hluziman is a former presenter of a community radio station in eMalahleni. He did not respond to questions sent to him.

Brigadier Nomthandazo Mbambo, the national spokesperson for the Hawks, said this situation is very serious and borders on a criminal offence. “I will immediately do an investigation into the incident.”