According to the party these criminal charges are “meant to send a strong message to South Africans that the spreading of fake news will not be tolerated”.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters confirmed that the 55-year-old man has been arrested and he is expected to appear in court on Tuesday, 7 April, following his arrest on Monday by police from Parow police station in Cape Town.
“The arrest relates to a video disseminated through various social media platforms purporting contamination of Covid-19 test kits,” Peters said.
In the Facebook video, which has been widely distributed on social media, Stephen Birch calls on South Africans to refuse Covid-19 testing.
With a cotton bud stuck up his nose, he claims he is giving South Africans “the most important message you will ever hear in your entire life”.
He then claims that the South African government will send 10 000 workers door to door, with the police, to test for Covid-19.
“Do not under any circumstances allow them to test you. There’s a possibility that the swabs are contaminated with Covid-19.”
The man then claims that, globally, the swabs are used to “spread the virus”, without providing any evidence to support his claim.
“The suspect has been charged in terms of Regulation 11(5)(c) of the Disaster Management Act, in relation to ‘publishing any statement through any medium including social media with the intention to deceive any other person about measures by the government to address Covid-19’,” Peters said.
“Spreading fake news, as this person has done, is against the Covid-19 Disaster Management Regulation 11(5) which prohibits and criminalises the spread of fake news pertaining to efforts of combating this pandemic. The regulations are clear that transgressors can be jailed for up to six months,” the DA said.
