New lawyer for man accused of threatening President Cyril Ramaphosa and Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis
Image: Linked In/Supplied
The man who is facing charges of assault and for threatening to kill the President of the Republic of South Africa and the Mayor of Cape Town made his second court appearance on Monday morning.
Phillip Sebole Masango, 28, was arrested by The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (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 cyber crimes 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 Friday, 23 May 2025.
On Monday, 12 May 2025, 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 the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Masango is also alleged to have sent multiple threatening messages targeting the complainant, her family, and the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Geordin 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.
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When Masango arrived in Cape Town Magistrate Court, he did so without any legal representation, to which he stated 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, which is when the attorney, Mrs 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 the 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 Monday, 9 June, to allow for the verification of his address and investigation in other details, including the status of his passport.
theolin.tembo@inl.co.za
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