CAPE TOWN - A councillor candidate for the United Independent Movement (UIM) has opened a case of crimen injuria with the police following a viral social media post where he is accused of allegedly failing to pay child maintenance for one of his children.
This is after a woman posted a campaign poster of the candidate on Facebook writing: “This is my baby daddy. He has not paid child maintenance for 16 years. How can he be for the community if he does not pay child support?”.
The post was shared widely on social media groups.
Randall Scott who is a candidate for the party in ward 14 and 19 in George said he was “devastated” by the allegations, saying they were false and untrue.
"It has been an emotional roller coaster weekend of my entire life. I am devastated by the allegations.
"I do not have a criminal record and the allegations that I did not pay child maintenance for the past 16 years is a blatant lie,” he said.
"I was notified about these allegations by my elder sister who is in Cape Town. The political party requested from me a sworn statement.
“I don't have a criminal record and I did pay my maintenance while I was employed,” he said.
Scott, who submitted the affidavit to his party on Sunday, said the matter was now with the police for further investigation.
The 48-year-old said he is running as a candidate to better service delivery and to alleviate poverty and to combat crime in his community.
Police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie confirmed a case was registered with George SAPS.
“The complaint is about an alleged Facebook post about the complainant's neglect to pay child support to a 16-year-old child which the complainant denies. The matter will be referred to the senior public prosecutor for a decision once the investigation is completed,” he said.
UIM president Neil de Beer said they have received Scott’s affidavit where he rejects the allegations.
“We have made an inquiry on this matter as a party and have received from Mr Scott a police affidavit where he totally rejects these allegations as false and untrue on record.
"The principle in this just society is factually you remain innocent until proven guilty. The truly correct manner is dealing with such a matter directly to parties and not posting allegations on a social media platform, where truly fake news is a habit,” De Beer said.
Cape Times