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Sharing Gigaba sex video could get you into trouble─── 19:00 Mon, 29 Oct 2018
Sharing the sex video that features Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, is an invasion of the minister’s privacy says social media lawyer, Emma Sadleir.
The video caused a stir after it was leaked on social media on Sunday.
According to the minister, his phone had been hacked 18 months ago. Gigaba reported the matter after unknown people used the video in a blackmail and extortion attempt, but the minister turned it down.
Users sharing the video on social media could get into trouble with the law, according to Sadleir.
“Every single person who shares that video on is contributing to that harm and committing a separate criminal offence each time. And so I really urge every member of the public not to send it on, not to repost it and not to retweet it,” she said.
A private investigator has been hired by the minister to find the culprits.
According to SABC News, law experts say Gigaba could opt for either a criminal or civil case against the perpetrators who leaked and shared the video in which he features.
Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Pretoria, Llewelyn Curlewis, says the most obvious recourse for someone in Gigaba’s position would be to lay criminal charges for behaviour amounting to crimen injuria.
“It is an offense if you intentionally and publicly publish any information which has a defamatory result. So from a common wealth perspective that is probably the best result, if he can identify the perpetrators he can take the matter to criminal courts to have them held accountable. On a civil level he can claim for damages but that can take years and there is a defence in the law called the truth and the public interest. In this instance if it was malicious and without public interest then one can obviously argue that this is not a proper defense in law.”
Speaking to the SABC, his spokesperson Vuyu Mkhize had this to say: “I have not seen such an exchange so I’m not in a position to comment on that. We are not living in a calvinistic society. Every second guy and his dog does keep this kind of material on their phone for their private viewing. This was in the context of his marriage, a sanctimonious relationship. I think it would be hypocritical for anyone to raise such a question.”
