The police have arrested a 23-year-old man for contravening the disaster management act, police said.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said in a statement, the man was shown on video on social media on 27 March flouting the lockdown rules.
The video went viral.
“In the video, two young men were seen travelling around Pretoria with one of them continuously swearing, mocking efforts to curb the Covid-19 virus and bragging they do not comply with laws put in place to contain the virus, went viral,” Naidoo said.
ALSO READ: No arrests in Centurion cross pavement shooting
“In one of the snippets, one man appears to be standing in front of a police station and continued swearing about the virus.”
Naidoo said the matter was investigated and the man traced to a residential complex in the Lyttelton policing area.
“The suspect is likely to face charges of at least contravening Regulation 11B of the Disaster Management Act 2002,” he said.
“He is currently in police custody and is expected to appear in the Pretoria magistrate’s court tomorrow [Monday].”
ALSO READ: Four arrested for bribing Centurion cops
He said this, along with the arrest of at least six other people for creating such videos and posting fake news, should remind people that this was serious.
“The security forces enforcing the regulations to contain the Covid-19 virus have the capacity and capability to identify those responsible for such transgressions, however long it may take,” he said.
“Citizens are urged to view the scourge of Covid-19 virus seriously as thousands of people globally have lost their lives to this plague, including at least six people in South Africa.”
He said the regulations were being enforced not to punish people but to protect lives against the virus.
ALSO READ: Man who stabbed Centurion woman and dog, arrested
Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news.
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).
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
