Steven Birch appears in court over fake news video on Covid-19 tests

A 55-year-old man appeared in Cape Town magistrate's court on Tuesday for allegedly spreading fake news about Covid-19.

Steven Birch, from Durbanville, appeared briefly and was warned to be back in court on July 14.

Birch allegedly posted a video on his social media pages telling South Africans that government coronavirus testing kits were contaminated and could infect people.

According to the police, he was charged in terms of regulation 11(5)(c) of the Disaster Management Act, in relation to “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".