For weeks she’d been trending online – and not in a good way – until she proved she’d simply had enough of being trolled and harassed on social media after the abuse spilled over into her real life. Kelly Khumalo has had to put up with insults, hurtful comments and criticism that she won’t reveal who killed her lover, Senzo Meyiwa, in 2014. And every time someone is murdered, the singer’s name is dragged into it because of the deaths of Senzo and another of her former partners, Prosper Mkwaiwa.
But clearly the abuse is starting to take a toll on the Ngathwala Ngaye singer. Kelly cut short her performance at an EFF rally in Durban in 2019 after thousands in the crowd started heckling her with chants of “Senzo”. Then in an interview with Trending SA, Kelly said she’s not willing to tolerate any more abuse – online and in real life – and plans to tackle the bullies head-on.
The Protection from Harassment Act came into effect in 2013, allowing victims to take action against those who pick on them. “It’s a wonderful mechanism which many people don’t know can be used in cases of cyberbullying,” explains digital law specialist Emma Sadleir.
“It allows for a protection order to be issued against online or in-person bullying or harassment where the perpetrator knows or ought to know that the conduct causes mental, psychological, physical, financial or emotional harm or inspires the reasonable belief that such harm may be caused.”
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And you don’t need a lawyer to help you get a protection order. You can apply for one yourself by going to your nearest magistrate’s court. Don’t be put off from taking action if it’s an anonymous bully. The court has the power to order the relevant electronic service provider to disclose the perpetrator’s identity so action can be taken.
In addition to getting a protection order, Kelly also has other options. “She could lay charges of crimen injuria (infringement of dignity) against those responsible for publishing the defamatory or harmful content,” says Sadleir, who is the author of Selfies, Sexts and Smartphones: A Teenager’s Online Survival Guide.
However, she points out that suing for defamation is a “costly and very lengthy process” and that the rewards in these cases are “historically very low”.
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“Taking legal measures isn’t always practical or fast enough and it is better to respond reputationally, which is what Kelly did on Twitter.”
But there have been cases where people have been made to pay for their ill-advised rants on social media. Sadleir recalls how the Midrand magistrate’s court last year found socialite Joyce Molamu guilty of two counts of crimen injuria for calling actress and