A criminal case has been opened in President Cyril Ramaphosa's defence after an unnamed woman referred to him as 'an ape trying to act like a First World president'.
A local man had taken exception to this comment and proceeded to go to the Brighton Beach police station in Durban to press charges, reports TimesLIVE.
The Pinetown woman accused the government of being at fault concerning the current national lockdown and went on to use the derogatory term against the president.
The man opted not to reveal his identity, saying that he had been offended and thought the comment had been in poor taste:
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| South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives at NASREC Expo Centre in Johannesburg on April 24, 2020, where facilities are in place to treat COVID-19 coronavirus patients. - South Africa's five-week coronavirus lockdown will be slowly eased from May 1, 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on April 23, 2020, as he sought a balance between protecting people and letting them earn a living. (Photo by Jerome Delay / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JEROME DELAY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) |
“On the 23rd of April, I went up to my nearest police station in Brighton Beach to lodge a complaint and open a case against a lady that sent a Facebook page suggesting that the president [Cyril Ramaphosa] is an ape pretending to act like a president of a first-world country. I did find the post distasteful and I did [not] hesitate to open up a case.”
The South African reports that police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo had confirmed the incident:
“I can confirm that a case of crimen injuria is being investigated against a KZN woman after she allegedly referred to the president [Cyril Ramaphosa] in a derogatory manner in her Facebook page. The case was registered at Brighton Beach Police Station at about 20:00 on Tuesday 21 April 2020.”
Briefly.co.za reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa had announced how the government intends to slowly phase out the current lockdown in stages during an address on Thursday evening.
Source: Briefly.co.za
