Comedian can get in trouble for coronavirus video, expert warns

A local comedian can land in hot water for posting an online video in which he criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s handling of the coronavirus, a legal expert has warned.

This after comedian Craig du Toit Nel posted a profanity-ridden video of himself lashing out at the government for their ban on gatherings larger than 100 people, including the ban on the sale of alcohol at venues after 18:00 in the evenings.

Helene Eloff, legal advisor to CTP Limited and social media law expert, told Rekord that although citizens have the right to freedom she advised them to stay on the right side of the law.

“You could possibly be jailed,” she said.

In the video, Du Toit Nel can be heard saying “you can all go and ** yourself, OK?”

“You can take away a lot of things from us, but you will not take away our right to party and get together. It is our right if we want to expose ourselves to the coronavirus which you don’t even ** know what the repercussions of are.

“So go ** yourself, you and your disease. We will gather, we will party,” he said in the video that was circulated on social media on Friday.

Du Toit Nel owns two wedding venues and his Facebook page has 166 650 followers.

“I am so aggravated and irritated with the corona * already,” he told Rekord in a telephonic interview.

“More than 20 brides have phoned me over the past two days about their upcoming weddings after the announcement of the alcohol restrictions yesterday.

“I have 30 families that rely on me for an income,” he said.

“It is easy for others to stay home and draw a salary, but our business works differently.”

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Eloff believes the President can lay a case of crimen injuria against Du Toit Nel.

“But I think he [Ramaphosa] has more important things on his mind right now.

“We all have the right to freedom of expression,” she said.

“Comedians, especially, have a wide ambit of what they may say while making jokes. Whether you consider the joke funny or not, this is [however] a serious matter.”

“The consequences of breaking these rules [such as the ban on sale of alcohol after hours] are serious.

“You may be arrested by a police official or a member of the South African Defence Force. They may detain you and if you are found guilty of contravening the regulations in court, you may face six months’ imprisonment, a fine or both.”

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections now stand at 202.

Dear reader,

As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.

Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).