Man arrested for porn images overlaid with faces of Cele, Ramaphosa

THE 34-year-old man arrested in KwaZulu-Natal for allegedly contravening the Cyber Crime Act following the distribution of pornographic images with overlaid faces of President Cyril Ramaphosa and Police Minister Bheki Cele did not appear in court yesterday.

On Sunday, the Hawks announced that the man would appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court yesterday for allegedly contravening the Cyber Crimes Act, after he was arrested in Azalea, Pietermaritzburg.

However, yesterday Hawks spokesperson Colonel Philani Nkwalase said that the man was “not court ready” and would only make his initial appearance today.

“The police officers who went to fetch him arrived (in Pretoria) very, very late so he could not appear today (yesterday).

“He was not court ready, with regards to the documentation,” said Nkwalase.

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

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

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 in 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,” Nkwalase added.