TWO Zanu PF activists appeared in court on Thursday facing charges of harassment and cyberbullying.
They committed the crime against the party’s aspiring candidate for Gweru Urban constituency.
The duo Lovemore Reketai Dhingaka and Bernard Tsotsi appeared before Gweru provincial magistrate Arnold Maburo on Friday last week.
The two were charged under section 164B of Zimbabwe’s Cyber Security and Data Protection Act, which prohibits the use of electronic communication systems to bully or harass others.
Allegations are that Dhingaka and Tsotsi sent messages on social media denigrating 2023 Zanu PF primary elections candidate for Gweru Urban Constituency, Constain Mukanganike.
The State alleges that on October 28, 2024, Dhingaka and Tsotsi, who are members of a WhatsApp group titled “Gweru Vendors,” allegedly sent voice messages insinuating that Mukanganike was a “thief.”
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They allegedly also sent other offending message’s influencing other group members not to listen to Mukanganike.
Mukanganike (51) who is also the managing director of Cosfoam Projects, reportedly received voice notes from Pluckcedes Madhirize, another member of the WhatsApp group, who had recorded them.
Mukanganike subsequently reported the matter to the police leading to the arrest of the accused.
Dhingaka and Tsotsi admitted that they sent the voice notes in the vendors WhatsApp group.
They were remanded to December 27 on free bail on condition that they will not interfere with State witnesses and continue residing at their residential addresses.
The Data Protection Act signed into law in 2021 under section 164B in the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act criminalises cyberbullying and harassment.
Cyberbullying is bullying through the use of digital technologies to harass, spread lies, post humiliating photos, intimidate, threaten, degrade or cause emotional distress to a person without their express consent.
The most common media where cyberbullying often occurs is on social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.