A man, who posted on social media that “some people” were planning to assassinate President Cyril Ramaphosa, was sentenced to five years in prison for cyber fraud.

Elrico Kaizer Kasper, 38, appeared in the De Aar Regional Court on Wednesday.

Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation spokesperson Nomthandazo Mnisi said Kasper made the post in March last year.

“Kasper posted on his social media page that ‘some people’ were planning to assassinate President Cyril Ramaphosa, during his visit to De Aar, on Human Rights Day celebrations.”

“A disruptive operation consisting of the Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation team and Crime Intelligence was operationalised and the team located the said accused. He was then taken in for questioning and he admitted to having posted such, citing the frustration of unemployment.”

The National Prosecuting Authority said it hoped the sentence will work as a deterrent to other perpetrators of cybercrimes.

“It is important that people should be aware that the dissemination of false information through social media platforms, will lead to people being prosecuted.”