Man apologises to SANDF after flyer gets him into trouble
Mosebetsi Macholo (24) wants to clear his name and states how the photoshopped flyer came about.
Social media was recently abuzz with a birthday invitation in which a man can be seen wearing SANDF regalia. The tweet was noticed by the SANDF and they issued a statement to warn residents against such acts.
The man depicted on the invitation is Mosebetsi Macholo or Vaal President as he is known.
Macholo, a 24-year-old petrol attendant, stated he was shocked when he first learnt that SANDF released a statement about the poster.
Media Statement || 11 September 2022 || The SA National Defence Force || Possession of Military Artefacts and Impersonating a Military Officer is a Military Offence.#SANDF#DCCMediaLiaison pic.twitter.com/SczQ9FhCvW
— SA National Defence Force (@SANDF_ZA) September 12, 2022
“When I logged onto my Facebook, I realised I got more notifications than usual. People tagged me on statuses with the army’s statement and I was shocked,” he said.
Macholo then noted the original statement on Twitter and said he was shocked. “I shared the post and I was dragged on Twitter streets with trolls claiming I’m acting as the victim. Moreover, I then started seeing stories on online publications and that frightened me,” he added.
Macholo explained how the post came about. “I wanted a poster which will depict me as a president. I went to a graphic designer and told him what I wanted. All I wanted was to look like a president to represent my social media name. I thought a photo in a suit will best fit my social name,” he said.
Macholo added he was later sent a post depicting him in army uniform.
— silakhile 🇿🇦 (@SilakhileIsra) September 12, 2022
“I’m not going to lie, I like the idea even though that wasn’t the initial idea. When I realised I was in trouble, I went back to my designer and asked him where he got the photo. He told me that he downloaded the photo of an army general and cut out the face to add mine,” he said.
Macholo explained the project is with the designer and should there be a need to prove otherwise to the SANDF, he will gladly produce proof.
“I don’t know a shop that sells army gear. I don’t even have a relative who is in the army. When that poster was designed I didn’t really think it will end up everywhere. If I knew better, I wouldn’t have agreed to circulate the poster,” he said.
The petrol attendant apologised to the country and the SANDF. “All I want is to be cleared from this drama. I know this may get me into serious trouble and at my age, I could lose my livelihood. I sincerely want to apologise to the SANDF and I want to clear my name. If there are proper channels to follow with the SANDF to clear one’s name, I will go through them, ” he said.
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