Who is Lerato Pillay? What is Lerato Pillay’s real name? Lerato Pillay Twitter Account Unmasked
An investigation into the real person behind Twitter account Lerato Pillay previously @uLerato_Pillay has unmasked a former South African Defence Forces (SANDF) who was fired from the army for committing sexual offences in the DRC.
Lerato Pillay, has become popular in South Africa and beyond our borders as he has the power to call for demonstrations and has influence over hashtags and social media movements. He recently called for the 23 September Clean SA campaign against foreigners accused of human and drug trafficking, robberies, kidnapping, prostitution among other crimes.
Targeted people are usually Nigerians, Zimbabweans and Malawians who migrated to South Africa for better economic fortunes.
Recently Thokoza communities in economic capital Johannesburg evicted foreigners and burnt their belongings after they were influenced by the social media character #PutSouthAfricaFirst campaign aimed of getting rid of foreigners.
The account has had support from politicians who furthered their agenda through it.
DFRLab, a digital forensic research group dug deep into the account and uncovered one Sifiso Jeffrey Gwala, a distraught former lance corporal with the 121st SA Infantry Battalion in Mtubatuba in coastal KwaZulu-Natal, as the person behind Lerato Pillay.
Sifiso was booted from the army in 2015 after 34 members of SANDF, including himself were involved in rape and other sexual crimes during a UN led peacekeeping mission in DRC.
His motive for starting Lerato Pillay account and pushing an agenda against foreigners and politicians that support foreigners is yet to be established.
Savanna News understands the account has since changed from @uLerato_Pillay to @PutSAnsFirst_, a loophole that DFRLab used to trace the origins of the account. The research revealed that the account started as @sfiso82648954 before changing to @uLerato_Pillay.
The credentials used to open the account @sfisogwala_sa are the same as the ones used by @uLerato_Pillay.
It remains to be seen if authorities will use this discovery against him, but South Africans have come to know that Lerato Pillay’s real name is Sifiso Jeffrey Gwala, a former SANDF officer.
Read More: Put South Africans First Movement: How it started, what you need to know
Read More: Foreigners fear xenophobia as Clean South Africa #Sidikiwe campaign hots up
Who is Lerato Pillay? What is Lerato Pillay’s real name? Lerato Pillay Twitter Account Unmasked