Parow estate agent who claimed Covid-19 tests are contaminated released on warning

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Cape Town – A Parow estate agent who was arrested for posting a Facebook video claiming the country's test kits for the coronavirus were contaminated was released on a warning on Tuesday. The 54-year-old Stephen Birch appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court for the alleged contravention of Regulation 11 (5) under the Disaster Management Act. The case against Birch has been postponed to July 14. Police did not allow the media to enter the court to cover his appearance, News24 reported. Birch, who was arrested on Monday after being warned to report to the Parow police station, declined to comment on the case outside the court. He has been charged for "publishing any statement through any medium including social media with the intention to deceive any other person about measures by the government to address Covid-19".

The penalty could be a fine or up to six months' imprisonment. The regulation was published on March 18, making fake news and disinformation about Covid-19 a criminal offence in South Africa.

Birch is the first person to be arrested in the Western Cape for spreading fake news.

Three KwaZulu-Natal residents and five in Gauteng have been arrested for similar transgressions – they include four Temba residents, north of Pretoria, and a 23-year-old man from the wealthy eastern suburbs in Pretoria.

In 2012, Birch told IOL he might have found the remains of British toddler Madeleine McCann, five years after she disappeared while on holiday with her family in Portugal.

He claimed he had used a radar scanner and found what could be human bones near the Praia da Luiz holiday resort where the family had been staying in May 2007. Birch was accused of trespassing on private property.

Asked what had motivated him to go to such extremes so long after Madeleine's disappearance, Birch said he was ”obsessed” with the case.

On April 5, with a cotton bud stuck up his nose, Birch allegedly called on South Africans to refuse Covid-19 testing in a Facebook video, saying he was giving South Africans "the most important message you will ever hear in your entire life".

Claiming the government would send 10 000 workers door to door, with the police, to test for Covid-19, he said: "Do not under any circumstances allow them to test you. There's a possibility that the swabs are contaminated with Covid-19."

Without providing any evidence to support his claim, Birch alleged that globally the swabs are used to "spread the virus".

He also claims that Covid-19 "is a total lie", that 5G cell masts "will kill thousands of South Africans and people around the world with radiation", and that people will be microchipped and the state will monitor their every move.

In a comment on Birch's Facebook page, Michael Bredenkamp said: "Your dream to be famous is getting out of hand. You are a glory hunter. That will try anything for attention.

"Why don't you invent something or do something to help humanity or start to write fiction novels. Instead of making up fake stories for attention and the fame you are after."

On Monday, the DA had pressed charges against Birch, saying these criminal charges are "meant to send a strong message to South Africans that the spreading of fake news will not be tolerated".

Cape Times