TikTok rant lands KwaZulu-Natal man, 38, in the dock on crimen injuria and incitement charges
Police say the video insulted KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and called on people to commit violence, and that the man was traced to Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu.
A 38-year-old man was arrested in KwaMashu on Sunday afternoon and will appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of crimen injuria and inciting violence, the South African Police Service said.
The arrest follows a video posted on the man’s TikTok account which, according to the police service, insulted KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and incited people to commit violence.
SAPS said its KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Task Team opened a case after identifying what it described as the criminal elements in the video. The man was traced and found at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu, where he was arrested.
The police service announced the arrest in a post on X carrying the hashtag #ResponsibleSocialMediaUse. It did not say what the video contained beyond its description of the insults and the call to violence, and it did not name the suspect ahead of his court appearance.
Crimen injuria is the common-law offence of unlawfully and intentionally impairing the dignity or privacy of another person. Incitement to commit violence is a separate charge. Neither has been tested in court in this matter, and the man is presumed innocent until a court finds otherwise.
The case is one of a growing number in which South African police have acted on posts made on short-video platforms, and it turns on words published to an audience rather than on a physical confrontation. What the court will be asked to weigh is the content of the video and whether it crossed from insult into incitement.
Monday’s appearance is the first step in that process.
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