A viral video of two children in distress after their father was killed in a Johannesburg road rage shooting has sparked outrage, with experts warning that sharing the footage may violate their rights to dignity and privacy.
Image: Suburban Control Centre
Thousands of South Africans may have violated the rights of two children after widely sharing a viral video showing them in severe distress moments after their father was shot dead in a road rage incident in Emmarentia, Johannesburg.
The footage, circulated extensively on social media, shows the man’s young daughter screaming and crying over her father’s body, while her younger brother, his hands covered in blood, tries desperately to revive him with CPR.
William Bird, director of Media Monitoring Africa, told IOL the sharing of the video raises serious legal and ethical concerns.
“Some of the videos being shared clearly violate the rights of the children."
“The child is a witness to a serious crime and, for that reason alone, cannot be named or identified. In addition, the child is clearly in a state of trauma and showing the child like that is an egregious violation of the child’s right to dignity and privacy.”
Bird said those distributing the footage may be infringing protections contained in the Criminal Procedure Act, as well as broader constitutional rights safeguarding children.
“It is clearly not in the child’s best interests to be shown. People should not share those videos,” he said.
The children’s father, 48-year-old Faisal ul Rehman, was killed during the incident on Sunday.
A 58-year-old man was detained in connection with the shooting and the attempted murder of Faisal’s wife, Tehseen.
The suspect had been expected to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, but the National Prosecuting Authority said he would not be prosecuted for the time being.
The circulation of the video has triggered outrage, with child rights campaigners urging South Africans to remove the footage from their devices and stop circulating traumatic content involving minors.
Childline KZN director Adeshini Naicker told IOL the circulation of the video added another layer of harm.
"Witnessing a road rage incident involving their parents and the death of their father would have been extremely traumatic. In that moment, the children would have experienced fear, confusion, and shock. This kind of experience can have a lasting emotional impact, and they will need care, support, and counselling to help them cope with what they saw."
"Children have a right to privacy and dignity, and sharing such a painful and personal moment violates those rights. It can retraumatise them and expose them to unnecessary public attention," she explained.
Childline KZN stressed that people should think carefully before sharing content involving children.
"Protecting children means not only supporting them after trauma, but also respecting their dignity and not exposing them further," Naicker added.
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