The public prosecution department plans to take legal action against more than 10 people for making threats against television presenter turned politician Sylvana Simons, local broadcaster AT5 reported on Thursday.

Chief prosecutor Theo Hofstee told AT5 the exact number of prosecutions has not been finalised but that ‘a large number’ of cases will go to court.

‘We are talking about death threats and a number of unpleasant insults which are extremely discriminatory,’ he said. Some people will appear in front of magistrates in the first three months of next year while others will be let off with a fine, he said.

Simons made a formal complaint about online threats in June after she announced that she was joining new political party Denk. At the end of November,  a second wave of threats included a short video was placed on social media showing Simons’ head superimposed on the body of a black American who had been lynched.

Since then, Simons has been under special police protection.

Read our interview with Sylvana Simons