A Facebook post by Nkosana Nkosie P. Mthembu left South African social media users gobsmacked, after he reposted and captioned a female toddler’s picture with innuendos of rape and paedophilia.
In the post this past weekend, Mthembu said: “I do not care if you are young, I will s*x you until it becomes r*d.”
With more than a thousand likes and shares, users condemned Mthembu’s post, tagging the national police’s page and demanding his arrest. Others lamented that the country was entrenched in gender-based violence, highlighting that South Africa was the world’s rape capital.
Before deactivating his account, Mthembu wrote an apology where he “retracted“ his suggestive rape and paedophilia utterances.
“I am writing to sincerely apologise for my post. My action was unacceptable and I deeply regret any harm or offence caused to all. Please know that I take full responsibility for my mistakes and assure you that I am actively working to prevent similar situations in the future. If there is anything I can do to make amends, please do not hesitate to reach out. Your feelings are to be considered much carefully and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me,” said Mthembu.
Additionally, he claimed his post was ‘playful’. “All I know is that I was just playing,” said Mthembu.
Speaking to The Star, national spokesperson for the police, Athlenda Mathe, said the Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations (SECI) a specialised team designated to investigate and trace posts that incite child rape and paedophilia, would investigate Mthembu’s case.
“Any social media profile that incites child rape and paedophilia needs to be reported in order for investigation to commence immediately,” said Mathe.
SECI is a specialised team within SAPS’ Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit, responsible for tracing and arresting serial rapists, “as well as taking down those involved in the possession, distribution and manufacturing of child pornography.”
As online safety remains a concern for most parents in a social media littered world, according to “The Verge”, an online tech publication report, a 2020 study by Meta revealed that more than 500 000 child Instagram accounts had “inappropriate” interactions on a daily basis.
In addition, the publication said Meta, particularly Facebook and Instagram, had poor cybersecurity for children. Hence, predators continued to have a field day and prey on children online.
An expert from Kaspersky, a cybersecurity service provider, advised parents to educate their children about social media use in order to protect them from cyber bullying and especially, online groomers.
“If you feel your child is accessing a dangerous app or website for kids or teens, explain why you feel this way. Where possible, make it a joint decision with your child, so they understand the reasons not to use something.
“Tell your child that you won’t overreact if they tell you something they have seen online, such as nasty comments, sexual content, or violent images. Tell them you would prefer they talked to you about it rather than keep it to themselves. Show them how they can block or report content they find disturbing,” said the expert.
The expert urged parents to micro-manage their children’s social media and avoid over-sharing of personal details, such as location, photos and school names. This opens the door to a pool of online paedophiles.
“It’s important to discuss the potential risks of over-sharing with your child. It may seem harmless to post details about being home alone, but such information could put them in danger. The same applies to telling online friends about vacations, which is essentially advertising when your home will be unoccupied.
“Kids may not understand that a simple post asking for a phone number may be from a malevolent source. By discussing various scenarios, you can help your child understand what kind of information should not be shared via social media,” said the expert.
The Star