Stella looks scared and stressed, says DA MP

While most of the country was glued to their screens watching communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams' media briefing, DA MP Phumzile van Damme was not buying any of it.

On Tuesday, Ndabeni-Abrahams held a media briefing in Pretoria a day after messages went viral on social media about the possibility of her nudes being leaked.

The communication ministry announced on Monday that Ndabeni-Abrahams' WhatsApp account was hacked, and that her private and confidential information was said to be in the hands of an unknown third party.

During her briefing, Ndabeni-Abrahams said all hackers would find was “naughty” Whatsapp messages between herself and her husband.

She denied there were any nude photos stored on her WhatsApp or anything “illegal”.

“Surely you will find naughty messages between myself and my husband in those WhatsApp messages because we do communicate,” said Ndabeni-Abrahams.

“I doubt there is anything illegal, unless you interpret me flirting with my husband as an illegal issue.”

On social media, Van Damme criticised the briefing, saying it was a tactic often used to “build the narrative that an incumbent is competent”.

“This press conference to announce nothing really is a tactic often used in crisis [communication] to build the narrative that an incumbent is competent. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has faced a slew of corruption allegations, and there is possibly a major storm coming,” said Van Damme.

She suggested Ndabeni-Abrahams was “stressed” based on her body language.

“I’ve seen Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams speak many times. She smiles throughout. Displays full confidence. This here is someone scared and stressed,” she said.