Gauteng Police Commissioner condemns the circulation of alleged suspects on social media
JOBURG – Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela condemned the latest circulation of material depicting an alleged serial rapist that was never confirmed by Saps.
Police have warned the public against the reckless circulation of photos on social media platforms of alleged suspects prior to their court appearances.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said police have observed with concern the recent circulation, mostly on Twitter, of a photo and video clip of a handcuffed person suggesting that the man was a suspect wanted by police for multiple rape cases in Ekurhuleni.
Peters said this reckless practice achieved nothing other than sensationalism.
“The hard work of investigators gets nullified as this ultimately compromises procedures such as identification parades and subsequent court proceedings. This practice inevitably favours the suspect in that the case gets jeopardised and the suspect might never face a day in court, while the actual victim of the crime is disadvantaged and deprived of finding justice,” added Peters.
Section 69 of the South African Police Service Act of 1995 states that ‘no person may, without written permission of the national or provincial commissioner, publish a photograph or sketch of a person who is suspected of having committed an offence, pending a decision to institute criminal proceedings against him or her’, and any person who publishes such a photograph or sketch ‘shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months.
Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela condemned the latest circulation of material depicting the alleged serial rapist that was never confirmed by police.
“We acknowledge that police have little control over the content posted on social media by users on their private accounts. We do, therefore, appeal once more for social media users to consider the victims of crime and the negative implications their posted content could have on the process of ensuring justice for the victims,” he said.
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