Tebogo Kalaote from Kalaote Attorneys, says the charges againstthe University of the Free State (UFS) student, Orefile Sefika, are baseless on account of the fact that his client’s social media messages - which reportedly called for people to partake in the national shutdown last week - did not lead to any violence in the province and as such amount to nothing more than freedom of speech. 

Sefika appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Wednesday 21 July, facing charges of inciting violence following his arrest and subsequent release on a warning from the Bainsvlei Police Station on Tuesday 20 July. Kalaote says the case was postponed to 13 August 2021 for further investigations.

READ: #SAunrest: Free State SRC member arrested for inciting violence

Police spokesperson, Motantsi Makhele, says on 15 July 2021 the accused is alleged to have circulated messages on social media and his cell phone was confiscated for investigation purposes. His arrest comes after incidents of massive looting of both private businesses and public institutions in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last week during protests against the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma. The UFS Student Representative Council (SRC) member was arrested for allegedly inciting violence despite no incidents in the Free State. Police minister, Bheki Cele, previously said 12 suspects were being sought for inciting violence, which saw massive looting which resulted in 250 lost lives.

There are conflicting messages from the government as to whether the looting was part of what they term as an attempted coup or insurrection. Over two thousand people have been nabbed by the police both in Gauteng and KZN. 

Currently, the police in KZN have embarked on the recovery of looted items around different areas in the province with a large contingent of the items recovered thus far. However, the acting minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshaveni, says all the recovered items will be destroyed as they would devalue other goods in the market and destroy the economy.

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