Academic claims X account hacked after death threats issued against Zuma

Academic and PhD holder Dr Simamkele Dlakavu claims her social media account was hacked after posts were shared on the X platform demanding the death and assassination of uMkhonto weSizwe party (MK) leader and former president Jacob Zuma.

A series of tweets posted on Dlakavu’s X account over the weekend called for the death of Zuma.

Death threats

“The best thing you can do for me as a country is kill Jacob Zuma. He must die. Take him out now.”

In another post, Dlakavu purportedly wrote:  “Imagine, I wrote a whole PhD about how much I wanted Jacob Zuma to die. Now, it’s just time to make it a reality. I have already manifested his death.”

ALSO READ: MK party files urgent application to ConCourt to interdict first sitting of Parliament

Dlakavu said she did not post the threats against Zuma and that her account was hacked.

“My social media accounts (@SimamkeleD) were hacked, and harmful words against [former] president Zuma were expressed. We’ve now successfully accessed, protected the accounts and deleted the tweets. This experience has had a significant impact on me, and I humbly need privacy during this time.

“Given the present political climate, such sentiments are especially concerning. We are collaborating with authorities to investigate and identify the perpetrators, particularly because they may be aware of my political beliefs,” Dlakavu said.

MK party success

Zuma’s MK party upset the apple cart in the recent national and provincial elections.

It garnered almost 15% of the national vote, which contributed significantly towards reducing the African National Congress’ (ANC) majority to 40.2% for the first time since the dawn of democracy and when it came to power in 1994.

The party displaced the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) from its position as the third-largest political party.

Zuma’s party also secured the largest share of the vote in KwaZulu-Natal, where the former president hails from with 45.9% of the vote, just short of an outright majority.

Interdicting Parliament

The MK party has since brought an urgent application with the Constitutional Court to interdict parliament from convening the sitting of both houses until its grievances over the results of the recent polls are heard and ruled upon.

In court papers filed at the apex court, Zuma’s party claims “hundreds of thousands of votes” were stolen from it during the elections.

MK party interim secretary-general Sihle Ngubane, in the papers, submitted that the party had substantial evidence to support its claims of “material irregularities and/or vote rigging”.

ALSO READ: Zuma’s MK party slams claims that Zulu tribalism is reason for election success