Man convicted and sentenced for manipulating and sharing images of Ramaphosa

A 37-year-old man has been convicted and sentenced for multiple contraventions of the Cybercrimes Act after he downloaded images of President Cyril Ramaphosa and other high-profile individuals, manipulating them and sharing them on social media platforms.

Scebi Thabiso Nene appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court last week, where he was convicted and sentenced.

The conviction stems from incidents occurring between September 2022 and May 2023.

Downloading images

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo said Nene unlawfully downloaded images of high-profile individuals, including Ramaphosa, a former Minister of police (Bheki Cele) and his spouse, and a former National Commissioner of the South African Police Service.

“He manipulated these images by superimposing their faces onto pornographic content and subsequently distributed the altered images via WhatsApp and official Presidency email channels”.

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Arrest

Mbambo said the matter was reported to the police and a case docket was handed over to the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team in Gauteng for investigation.

“Nene was traced and arrested in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. He initially appeared in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court, after which the case was transferred to the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court”.

Nene was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment for counts 1 to 67 (Cyber Forgery) and three years direct imprisonment for counts 68 to 254 (Cyber Uttering and Disclosure of Intimate Data)

“The court ruled that the sentences will run concurrently, resulting in an effective five-year direct imprisonment term,” Mambo said.

Threats against Ramaphosa

Last week, a 28-year-old suspect was arrested in Gauteng for making threats against Ramaphosa.

The suspect was arrested and led away handcuffed in Germiston on Friday by the Hawks’ Crime Against The State (CATS) unit, which is part of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation based in Gauteng.

Mbambo said the arrest followed a case reported earlier this month.

Other threats

“On Monday, 12 May 2025, a complainant, who is the CEO of a Cape Town based company, allegedly received a voice message from the suspect, in which threats were made against the President of South Africa.

“The suspect is also alleged to have sent multiple threatening messages targeting the complainant, her family and the mayor of Cape Town,” Mbambo said.

Mbambo added that the matter was reported to the Cape Town based Hawks’ CATS team.

The man is expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 26 May 2025, where he will face a charge of intimidation.

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