Is this the real fake Barry Roux? Twitter's jury is still out

18 January 2019 - 12:04 By timeslive
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A 27-year-old from a small Zambian town has supposedly been linked to the parody account @AdvBarryRoux through some of his other social media accounts.
A 27-year-old from a small Zambian town has supposedly been linked to the parody account @AdvBarryRoux through some of his other social media accounts.
Image: AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL

The man behind the prominent parody Twitter account @AdvBarryRoux has allegedly been unmasked.

Ever since the Twitter sensation burst on to the scene, speculation has been rife as to who was behind the account known for releasing explosive - although not always accurate - information.

The real Barry Roux (not the Twitter version) is the Pretoria advocate famous for his dogged defence of Oscar Pistorius, who was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.  Roux is the inspiration behind many Twitter accounts and memes, and songs have even been written about him. 

On Friday, News24 reported that an investigation had revealed that the man behind the @AdvBarryRoux account is Zambian blogger, Csho "Shepard" Chilala. 

The 27-year-old from the small town of Monze, southwest of Lusaka, was linked to the account through some of his other social media accounts and previous posts. Chilala is believed to be currently living in SA.

However, @AdvBarryRoux dismissed the claims, saying the wrong man had been unmasked:

Following earlier speculation that the person behind the account could be a well-placed government official, social media continued to be in two minds over whether the correct "Barry Roux" had been found:


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