By Candice Bailey
Press freedom is one of the arguments that celebrity traffic tweeter “Pigspotter” is using to convince the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to drop the charges against him.
But while his lawyer fights to clear his name, Pigspotter continues to do what he does best, even though he has toned down his tweets somewhat.
The tweeter, who is only known as “Cliff”, has become somewhat of a phenomenon in recent weeks, with close to 21 000 followers.
This is because of his informative tweets warning motorists of speed traps, roadblocks and police, which he used to refer to as “pigs” and words associated with the animal, like pork and bacon.
In mid-September, metro police tried to close in on Pigspotter, laying charges of crimen injuria and defeating the ends of justice at the Sophiatown police station.
But Pigspotter is fighting back.
Yesterday his lawyer, Karl Schuler, of Schuler Malherbe Attorneys, said: “We are basically canvassing the legal aspects of the charges laid against my client.”
Schuler did not want to discuss the representations in detail as it would put pressure on the DPP, but said their argument is whether it is a crime to inform people of something publicly available.
“It’s case law around those two crimes and the constitutional aspects thereof,” he said.
Schuler said that freedom of the media and freedom of speech were also part of their argument.
“But we are really just trying to await the DPP’s decision before we turn this into something it is not. We are confident that the DPP will come to a fair decision,” he added.
Schuler admitted that Pigspotter had toned down his tweets since the action was taken against him.
“Once this matter got into the mainstream media, he had taken cognisance of the discussions that have been going around.
“He has stopped reporting on roadblocks and he has stopped the name-calling. He is basically reporting on speed traps, which is public info,” said Schuler.
Some of Pigspotter’s latest tweets around 3pm yesterday were “name and shame navy blue polo in Boksburg driving like an idiot, maybe it’s cause he is drinking a Black Label”. In other tweets, he refers to metro cops as “JMPD’s finest” and “blue and brown”.
Schuler said that since he handed over the representation to the DPP office on September 23, he has been in contact with them again. “But they asked us to please give them time to properly consider the information,” Schuler said.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said they were still deliberating on the matter. “There is no need for us to rush this matter. It is just another normal case like any other ones.” - The Star