On Friday, Fikile Mbalula opened a case against Mhlongo at the Sandton police station on a charge of breaching disaster-management regulations related to "information dissemination and misinformation".

Hours before President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that South Africa's COVID-19 lockdown would be extended until the end of April, Mhlongo had asserted in an Instagram video that Fikile Mbalula had given him a heads-up about the extension.

Mhlongo subsequently apologised to Mbalula for his “joke”, saying: “I'm just like you, I did not know about it. I was just guessing.” Police spokesperson Brig Vish Naidoo said Mhlongo reported to the Sandton police station at the weekend.

"He was charged and released on R1,500 bail, pending a court appearance," Vish Naidoo said. Fikile Mbalula confirmed on his Twitter page that Somizi Mhlongo had been arrested. He was responding to a question from a follower.