Hefty sentence for KZN man convicted of contravening Cybercrimes Act

A man convicted of contravening the Cybercrimes Act was sentenced to eight years’ direct imprisonment by the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court on Friday.

Scebi Thabiso Nene (37) faced multiple contraventions of the Act, stemming from incidents that occurred between September 2022 and May 2023.

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Nene unlawfully downloaded images of high-profile individuals, including the president of South Africa, a former minister of police and his spouse, and a former national commissioner of the SAPS.

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

The matter was reported to the police and the docket was handed over to the Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation team in Gauteng for investigation.

Nene was traced and arrested in Pietermaritzburg. He initially appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s 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 would run concurrently, resulting in an effective term of eight years’ direct imprisonment.

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