The man, who manipulated images of prominent people, including the President, and superimposed their faces onto pornographic content before distributing them, has been jailed.

The Pietermaritzburg Regional Court has sentenced Thabiso Nene to five years in prison for contravening the Cybercrimes Act.

Nene unlawfully downloaded images of the president, a former police minister and his spouse, and a former national police commissioner, and distributed the altered images on WhatsApp and to the official presidency email.

HAWKS spokesperson Thandi Mbambo says, “He manipulated these images by superimposing their faces onto pornographic content and subsequently distributed the altered images via WhatsApp and official Presidency email channels. Nene was sentenced as follows: five years direct imprisonment for counts 1 to 67, cyber forgery; and three years direct imprisonment for counts 68 to 254 cyber uttering and disclosure of intimate data.”

#sapsHAWKS Accused convicted and sentenced to 5 years’ direct imprisonment for contravention of Cybercrimes Act. Scebi Thabiso Nene (37) has been convicted and sentenced by the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court on 23/05 for multiple contraventions of the Cybercrimes Act.… pic.twitter.com/I3C1FjM6ND

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) May 25, 2025