New lawyer for man accused of threatening President Cyril Ramaphosa and Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis

The case against the man who allegedly made threats against President Cyril Ramaphosa and Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis was postponed to allow for the verification of his address and investigation into the status of his passport.

Phillip Sebole Masango made his second appearance in court yesterday morning.

The 28-year-old was arrested by the Hawks and is facing two assault charges, and six charges related to contravening sections 14 and 15 of the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020.

The Cybercrimes Act charges specifically refer to “unlawfully, and intentionally disclose by means of electronic communication services to a person with the intention to incite violence” against an individual.

He was arrested by the Hawks’ Crime Against the State (CATS) unit, part of the Serious Organised Crime Investigation on May 23.

On May 12, a complainant, who is the Chief Executive Officer of a Cape Town-based company, allegedly received a voice message from the suspect, in which threats were made against Ramaphosa.

Masango is also alleged to have sent multiple threatening messages targeting the complainant, her family, and Hill-Lewis.

The matter was reported to the Cape Town based Hawks’ CATS team, which conducted a swift investigation resulting in Masango's apprehension in Gauteng.

When Masango arrived in the Cape Town Magistrate Court, he did so without any legal representation, stating that “no one is talking to me”. He had explained he had contacted FNB for their legal service but he had heard nothing back.

“Why is my attorney not showing up? Not sure why my attorney is not coming…” he explained to Magistrate Alida Theart when asked about his legal representation. “Am I guilty of anything?”

Theart explained that they were not yet there in the process as he first had to have an attorney on record. “Which one is better?” he asked when the magistrate explained to him that he could use legal aid which is provided by the state, or one he could pay for himself.

He then decided to have legal aid represent him in court, and attorney, A Semmery came onto the record.

Semmery took a few moments to confer with Masango, and during the time, State prosecutor Mujaahid Sandan had raised a question surrounding the accused’s place of residence as the one he had previously indicated had belonged to a Church of Scientology in Cape Town.

The court heard that Masango has had no prior convictions, and that there were no other outstanding warrants of arrest.

The matter was then postponed to June 9, to allow for the verification of his address and investigation into other details, including the status of his passport.

Cape Times