A 55-year-old man appeared in Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, April 7, for allegedly spreading fake news about COVID-19. The Times reports that Steven Birch, from Durbanville, appeared briefly and was warned to be back in court on 14 July.
According to the police, he was 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".
Birch is facing criminal charges for disseminating a video in which he claims South Africans risked being infected with COVID-19 by healthcare officials testing people for the virus. The Mercury reports Democratic Alliance (DA) health spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube brought the charges in terms of the provision of the COVID-19 disaster management regulations that makes disseminating false information on the pandemic, with the intention to deceive a criminal offence. Police confirmed that a case had been opened.
The author of the video claims that test swabs used by healthcare officials conducting door-to-door testing are possibly contaminated with the coronavirus, and urges South Africans to refuse to be tested. The video was posted on Facebook.
“The Department of Health needs to reach people where they are in order to screen and refer them to the nearest health facility for full testing. It is not true that the community healthcare workers will use swabs or draw blood. Their work is to screen those South Africans who might be showing symptoms and bring the services closer to where they are,” said Gwarube.
Furthermore, mass screening is also meant to determine whether people’s conditions allow them to self-isolate or whether they need to be isolated in government facilities, she said. “This will assist those living in densely populated informal settlements and who cannot afford to self-isolate to protect their loved ones from contamination. Turning people against this measure is destructive and criminal.”
The fake video has been condemned by the Eastern Cape Health Department, reports Polity. According to provincial spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo, the video is causing unnecessary panic.
"We would like to put it on record that the testing kits are not contaminated and emphasise that we would never put people's lives at risk by using contaminated testing kits on them.
The DA is rolling out its latest campaign in the fight against fake news, during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a Polity report, DA shadow minister of communications and digital technologies Phumzile Van Damme revealed that the campaign will include DA resources to educate the public about fake news, as well as teach the public how to identify, correct and report fake news.
She also urged the South African media to play its part against fake news and appealed to media houses to verify all information before publishing.
[link url="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-04-07-steven-birch-appears-in-court-over-fake-news-video-on-covid-19-tests/"]Full report in The Times[/link]
[link url="http://themercury.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=cfcf78d1-11ce-4d59-8225-77fd86d3d1c9&key=RGTVC3CW0Ojt%2ba3s3RXVdw%3d%3d&issue=64032020040700000000001001"]Full report in The Mercury (subscription needed)[/link]
[link url="https://www.polity.org.za/article/covid-19-testing-kits-are-not-contaminated-2020-04-06"]Full Polity report[/link]
[link url="https://www.polity.org.za/article/da-launches-campaign-against-spread-of-covid-19-fake-news-2020-04-06"]Full Polity report[/link]