Before diving in on the punishments surrounding the crime, advocate Kopano Mohono labels the crime as "revenge porn", which is the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of someone without their consent. The material may have been made by a partner in an intimate relationship with the knowledge and consent of the subject at the time. Or it may have been made without their knowledge. “The intention of the perpetrator can be to blackmail or harm the reputation of the person in the leaked image,” he adds. Revenge porn can happen after a romantic relationship has come to cease, now the other partner would share the content with the intention to spite the other. Sometimes revenge porn is done with the intention of financial gain.

Mohono explains that should the victim be identifiable in the content, the perpetrator of the crime can get four years imprisonment or a R300 000 fine. However, the people who share the image on social media are also liable to the same punishment as the individual who leaked the content first. “What people forget is that even if they are not the original person who leaked the image, they can still be held liable for sharing the images with their friends via WhatsApp, or just retweeting it,” says Mohono. Once the victim becomes aware that their image has been leaked, they can go to their nearest police station to open a case or claim damages against the perpetrator for defamation of character. “If the victim is not identifiable, one can face up to two years imprisonment or a R150 000 fine.” He cautions people that it will not only end in imprisonment or a fine, but one can get a criminal record.

There may be additional charges, which could be voyeurism, extortion, criminal harassment, obscene publication, or even child pornography. As much as minors are concerned in the matter, Mohono says perpetrators who are minors over the age of 14 can be held liable, however, considerations of their age will be taken into consideration before sentencing. 

“A minor will need to have a representative, who can also be their guardian.” It can also be understood that should an adult perpetrator leak explicit images of a minor, anyone under 18 (or adults share the content), this will be an additional charge to revenge porn as it can be labeled as child pornography.

Diving a little more into the labour world, Mohono states that an employer can dismiss an employee who is a victim of revenge porn on several grounds, two being if the content was shot during the employee’s time of employment at that specific workplace and if the content was captured using company resources, as this would be a violation of the company’s policy. 

In conclusion, he says that people should always remember that the person who is sharing or retweeting such content will be held accountable the same way as the initial leaker.

In the Free State, the Speaker of the provincial Legislature, Zanele Sifuba, has opened a case against the person who leaked her explicit video which was making rounds on social media recently. It was alleged that the person who is in the video with Sifuba, leaked the video after unsuccessfully blackmailing her into paying him in exchange for the video.

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