Cell C’s computer network suffered a major cyber-attack on 7 June 2004, resulting in the disabling of approximately 80% of its network. Suspicion fell on the appellant, a former Cell C IT Remote Access System Administrator who had resigned shortly before the incident. He was charged in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court with contraventions of s 86 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002. After a protracted trial commencing in 2005, he was convicted in 2015 on two counts: unlawful access to a computer system (s 86(1)) and unlawful modification or destruction of data causing a denial of service (s 86(5)). He was fined or sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment on count 1 and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on count 3. His appeal to the Gauteng Division of the High Court was dismissed in 2017. The High Court later purported to grant leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal, leading to a jurisdictional dispute under the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013.