“Back in court today. Hope it finally runs.”
With those words, Glenn Agliotti, friend of corrupt cops, lover of the finer things in life and alleged murderer of mining magnate Brett Kebble, launched his Twitter account on August 25.
Within two hours, he had 150 followers. The Twitter bug bit quickly. In just two weeks Agliotti has sent out 118 tweets and is just shy of an impressive 1 000 followers.
And although there’s only so much court reportage that readers can take, it turns out that 140 characters is just the right amount of Agliotti for many.
Agliotti has been a regular news item as a state witness over the two-year course of the corruption trial of Selebi. In the dock himself, this time for the Kebble murder, Agliotti was faced with delays as public sector strikes put court proceedings on hold. He wasn’t the only one getting fidgety. Bored court journalists established a rapport with the colourful Agliotti, charismatic even with the whiff of death hanging over him.
With Talk Radio 702’s Mandy Wiener’s tweets already a favourite feature of the court room (even prosecution teams follow her updates) it was only a matter of time before Agliotti got curious. And it’s no secret who he credits with his foray into tweetdom. His second tweet read: “Thanks for the following and thanks @MandyWiener for teaching me to tweet”.
Other journalists suggested Twitter names like “The Landlord”, “Mafioso” or his first name, ”Norbert”. e.tv news’s Karyn Maughan suggested “The Godfather”, “The Don” or “Big Cuddles”.
“He’s loving it,” Maughan recounted on Facebook afterwards. “Refuses to follow Paris Hilton because ‘she’s a tjop’ but likes Jamie Oliver and Victor Matfield.”
Agliotti has a few other high profilers watching his every tweet including @USEmbPretoria and the CNN journalist @richardquest.
But perhaps it’s who Agliotti is following that has proved even more interesting. Although many of his 38 choices are sport stars, there are a few surprises: the presidency, Charlize Theron, Ellen DeGeneres and Andrew Leask — the Scorpions investigating officer who was taken off the Kebble case. And of course @amaBhungane, the Mail & Guardian‘s centre for investigative journalism. Because even a tweeting gangster has to keep his enemies closer than his friends.
amaBhungane, is the M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism, a non-profit initiative to enhance capacity for investigative journalism in the public interest. www.amabhungane.co.za.