We're a nation too keen to make private affairs public knowledge

07 October 2020 - 07:33 By nomahlubi sonjica
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The public's interest in salacious photos and videos is objectionable in a country where so many are victims of femicide and sexual harassment, says the author. Pictured is communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, whose flirtatious messages with her husband were intercepted by hackers.
The public's interest in salacious photos and videos is objectionable in a country where so many are victims of femicide and sexual harassment, says the author. Pictured is communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, whose flirtatious messages with her husband were intercepted by hackers.
Image: GCIS

My friends and I were shocked by the obsession over communications and digital technologies minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams' WhatsApp being hacked and the possibility that her nudes would be leaked.

We could not believe how men and women were scratching around to find the “nudes”.

Is that all we can think about when a person's account has been hacked?

Could we not perhaps think that someone was trying to get information they could use to implicate Ndabeni-Abrahams in a scandal?

I doubt her enemies, if she has any, are interested in seeing her naked photos or distributing them. I assume the hackers are smart people whose interests go beyond leaking naked photos of a married woman.

I'm concerned about how society has normalised the culture of people meddling in other people's private business. And more so the fact we think it's okay to see those photographs.

Why is it anyone's business if the minister has nude pics in her phone?

She is young, and I don't see anything wrong with her sending her husband raunchy photos to keep the spark alive in their marriage.

After news of the hack surfaced on Monday, I received messages from friends and acquaintances asking me if I had seen the nudes. Some even sent me screenshots of conversations between others saying the minister's nudes were doing the rounds and they must be on the look out for them.

Really?

I think we are a sick nation obsessed with sticking our nose in other people's private business, and we forget that we, too, have our own skeletons in our closets.

It's even more disgusting that women find this funny and entertaining when we are victims of femicide and sexual harassment.


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