Tuesday 31 August 2021

SA LOOTING : BUSINESSWOMAN UNMASKED, CHARGED

The woman behind the infamous Twitter account @African Soil — “Sphithiphithi Evaluator” — has been unmasked as a former bank employee who lived in Bloemfontein before relocating to Johannesburg.

Zamaswazi Zinhle Majozi, 36, of Leondale, Germiston in Ekurhuleni, became the 18th person to be arrested on charges of incitement of public violence after the looting of shops that started in KwaZulu-Natal and spread to Gauteng in July as a reaction to the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma.

Another suspect, a 35-year-old man, also appeared on Monday at the Pietermaritzburg magistrate's court in a session held in camera as an identity parade is to be held soon.

Sowetan has established that Majozi, whose lawyer told the court she owned a company with her husband, actually owned two companies.

According to a company search, Majozi and her husband jointly owned a communications firm and a catering company. Both companies are operating from Leondale, where the couple has been residing since 2018. Majozi moved to Johannesburg with her husband in 2011.

The couple could not be reached for comment last night as their phones rang unanswered.

Hawks spokesperson Col Katlego Mogale said Majozi, who is a staunch Zuma supporter, was arrested on Saturday for inciting public violence using her Twitter account, which has 67,900 followers.

At the time, the police could not say which tweets were under scrutiny. However, Sowetan also discovered on Monday night that all her tweets before August 15 had been deleted.

The mother of two appeared at the Germiston magistrate's court on Monday, where she was granted R3,000 bail with conditions that she must surrender her passport and report to the nearest police station daily.

Her court appearance was thrown into controversy after journalists were asked to apply to report on her case with her identity and photos. The magistrate asked the media to apply for permission, which was opposed by Majozi's unnamed lawyer.

NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said they were unable to release Majozi’s identity as there was a pending judgment on the matter.

“The media had made an application to publish her identity and the defence lawyer opposed it. The court reserved judgment for October 18. We [NPA] cannot publish her name until the court has indicated what should be done. The NPA does not decide but the magistrate,” said Mjonondwane.

Majozi’s lawyer refused to divulge any information about his client. In court there were no friends or relatives who came to support her as she made her first appearance.

The case was postponed to October 18 for further investigations. SowetanLIVE

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