‘What’s up?’
War of words after alleged fake news voice note is posted
AN allegedly doctored WhatsApp voice note is at the centre of a war of words between the City of uMhlathuze and one of its own councillors.
DA councillor Christo Botha laid charges with the Saps (CAS 227/10/2021) on Tuesday after two separate voice notes had apparently been manipulated to appear that he was in agreement with racist comments made by a member of the public.
The self-proclaimed racist had ranted to Botha over numerous service delivery problems and, despite Botha’s clearly worded appeal that racial language would not be tolerated on the WhatsApp group, the man persisted.
'I had no option but to change the group's settings, preventing members of the public from posting comments,' said Botha.
'He then continued to abuse me via private WhatsApp messages, saying that I had lost his vote,’ said Botha. In his sworn affidavit lodged at the Richards Bay police station, Botha names Luyanda Sazi Duep Msane aka Duep Sazi as having taken the response to a prior conversation on his Ward 2 WhatsApp group, and attached it to appear as though he was in agreement with the racist voice note caller.
Msane is the chairperson of the ANC Youth Branch serving at Ward 26.
Botha said an IT specialist who examined the timelines of the respective voice notes verified that manipulation had occurred, according to time stamps.
However, the city in a statement posted on its Facebook page, seemingly accepted the accusations against Botha as true, and made scathing remarks about his credibility, alleging that Botha had endorsed the racist comment. The post quotes City Mayor Mdu Mhlongo as saying, ‘We call upon law enforcement agencies and human rights organisations to attend to this matter and arrest this racist white man and the councillor’. Mhlongo said messages making the rounds on social media 'suggest that opposition political parties are using these incidents for political posturing and scoring cheap political points'. The municipality’s post also alludes to racism in the context of recent acts of sabotage.
In response, the DA attorneys on Wednesday morning served legal notice on the municipal manager and the communications director of the city, demanding an apology to Botha ‘for knowingly and indeed recklessly using the municipality’s official Facebook page to spread misleading and defamatory content’.
They demanded the post be removed from Facebook and any other social media platform by no later than 1pm on Wednesday.
City Communications Manager, Mdu Ncalane confirmed receipt of the letter of demand but could not say whether or not the post would be lifted.
Ncalane said the city’s legal team is examining the letter of demand, and would respond in due course.
At the time of going to print (4pm) the post had not been taken down.
The DA legal notice further states that the municipality’s conduct contravenes certain sections of the Electoral
Act and Botha said he would also be lodging an official complaint with the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) as he believes the issue was an attempt to discredit him as a racist in the eyes of voters.