MARY ALEXANDER • 21 July 2024

On the evening of 13 July 2024 former US president Donald Trump was holding a rally in the state of Pennsylvania when a would-be assassin opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle. A bullet clipped Trump’s ear.

He was quickly bundled to the floor and whisked off stage by secret service agents, but not before rising to pump his fist and shout “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Five days later, Trump formally accepted his nomination as the Republican Party’s candidate in the US presidential election, set for November. He’ll likely be up against current vice president Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party, after president Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

The shooting has polarised conversations on social and other media about US voters’ choices in November. Some analysts say it has improved Trump’s chances. Others point to history: previous attempts to assassinate US presidential candidates have had little impact on the final outcome.

And as with most major news events, false information soon followed.

One is an image of Trump seconds after the shooting, his fist raised and blood on his face with the US flag behind him, being held by secret service agents. But the agents seem to be smiling.

The secret service is a US federal government law enforcement agency. One of its duties is to protect current and past presidents.

The image has been circulating on social media in South Africa and elsewhere with claims that the assassination attempt was staged to boost Trump’s campaign.* These include:

• “Even the Secret Service is laughing at what a big joke it was […]”
• “So if it was really an attempt & not staged why are the secret service guys smiling & why did they allow him to pop his head up.”
• “The Secret Service smiling and hiding in the midst of an assassination attempt??? Yeah, it was staged.”
• “The secret service allows a shooter climb a tree get on a whit roof from 150yards out ya that doesn’t happen , And why are the smiling and laughing ? I don’t buy it ???”

But were the agents really smiling?

‘The thing about photography …’

The image has been altered in a particularly bumbling attempt at disinformation, as the original photo has become globally famous in the days since the shooting. It’s been published in news reports across the world. It’s even available as desktop wallpaper.

In the original, the secret service agents are definitely not smiling.

The photo was shot by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Evan Vucci of the Associated Press.

In several interviews since the photo was published, Vucci has described the split-second moments when he snapped the pic and several others like it.

“I heard the shots. So I ran to the stage as the Secret Service agents were starting to cover president Trump up. They were coming up on the stage from all different directions, and they were going on top of him. I went to the front side of the stage and I started photographing everything I could,” he told the UK Guardian.

He added: “The thing about photography is two people can see the exact same image and have a completely different reaction.”

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Report published by Africa Check on 13 August 2024

The post US secret service agents grinning after Trump assassination attempt? No, image altered appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 18 JULY 2024

After no single political party won a clear majority in South Africa’s 29 May 2024 elections, the African National Congress (ANC) invited other parties to form a government of national unity.

The ANC scored 40.2% of the national vote and the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) 21.8%. The newcomer uMkhonto weSizwe Party, which declined to join the unity government, was third with 14.6%.

The DA also retained government of the Western Cape province.

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa announced his new unity cabinet on 30 June, with 20 of the 32 ministerial posts going to the ANC, six to the DA and six to smaller parties.

The DA’s Leon Schreiber was appointed minister of home affairs, a national department that maintains the population register and issues identity documents.

Days later, a screenshot of an odd X post seemingly by Alan Winde, the DA premier of the Western Cape, went viral on social media.*

“The DA now controls the Dept. of Home Affairs,” it reads. “Get your Digital & Medical ID at these Bank Branches. We will be prepared when the next pandemic arrives.”

It appears to have been posted on the X account @AlanWinde666, with the name Premier Alan Winde, and its profile pic shows the premier. It links to an article on banks that process ID applications.

The screenshot has been posted with – and has attracted – outraged comments. These include:

• “The DA is selling us out to the Globalists…”
• “The DA is part of the New World Order […] Things are going to get very tough by 2025 more and more freedoms being taken away.”
• “This is the same guy who was forcing vaccine down the throats of people of western cape. Now he already know there is another pandemic coming […]”
• “What is a Medical ID? And the 666 on Alan’s name. A coincidence too neh? June is in July with this GNU gig! […] COVIS was a test phase for Hell on Earth?”
• “When we said these things will happen they thought we were smoking dirty socks […] that’s your next plandemic….New world order loading…”

But did the DA’s Western Cape premier really post this?

No digital or medical IDs in South Africa

The handle of Winde’s verified X account is simply @alanwinde, not @AlanWinde666. That handle belongs to an account named, in full, Premier Alan Winde Western Cape Parody.

On the screenshot, the words “Western Cape Parody” are obscured by the follow button.

The account’s bio reads: “Sith Lord. Woke Dick-tator of WEFtern Cape DICTATORIAL Alliance. Free PALPATINE. Only an unelected one world government can save us!” It then adds: “Parody”.

Its banner is made up of images where “un” has been added to the DA’s name, to read “Undemocratic Alliance”. The images include the URL for YesCape.org, a website that promotes the secession of the Western Cape from South Africa.

And the account’s current pinned post reads, in part: “We take orders from our globalist masters (WEF and WHO), support lockdowns and vaxxine mandates, promote gender fluidity in your kids, back Ukraine (US proxy wars), promote the climate hoax and will do anything to avoid referendums.”

@AlanWinde666 published the X post in the viral screenshot on 2 July. It has been viewed some 13,500 times so far – and attracted many more outraged comments.

South Africa has two types of ID document: the old green ID book and the newer smart ID card. There is no such thing as a South African “digital ID” or “medical ID”.

Parody and satire are meant to poke fun at political and other opponents, but not mislead about those opponents’ statements. And when parody or satire is reposted as fact, it becomes disinformation.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 6 August 2024

The post ‘Pandemic’ post from ‘parody’ Cape independence X account, not South Africa’s Western Cape DA premier Alan Winde appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 15 JULY 2024

“Biden just gave citizenship to 1 MILLION illegal aliens by Executive Order,” reads a claim circulating on social media since late June 2024.*

Joe Biden is the president of the United States.

The claim adds that this is “an ILLEGAL ACT that violates the Constitution’s Separation of Powers”.

“If this is allowed, we do not have a Republic of laws, we have a DICTATORSHIP. If this is allowed, our Republic is DEAD.”

The US is headed for a presidential election in November, likely to pit Biden of the Democratic Party against former president Donald Trump of the Republican Party.

Immigration is a hot topic in the campaign. Trump is strongly against it, while Biden has promised a more “humane” approach, leading to accusations that he is “soft” on the topic.

There are an estimated 2.1 million African immigrants in the US, a number that has risen dramatically since the 1990s. The exact figure is difficult to determine as it was previously so low authorities classified African migrants as “other”.

In 2015, the top four countries of origin for African immigrants into the US were Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt and Kenya.

But has Biden recently granted US citizenship to 1 million people who are living in the US illegally?

New process to ‘keep families together’

The claim appeared online on 18 June, the day Biden announced a new process to allow the noncitizen spouses and children of US citizens to apply for legal permanent resident status without leaving the country – and to protect them from deportation.

The process was clarified in a White House fact sheet titled “President Biden Announces New Actions to Keep Families Together.” It will be implemented by the Department of Homeland Security.

Previously, the undocumented spouses of US citizens were required to return to their home countries to apply for legal status, a process that could take years.

“In order to be eligible, noncitizens must – as of June 17, 2024 – have resided in the United States for 10 or more years and be legally married to a US citizen, while satisfying all applicable legal requirements,” the fact sheet reads. “On average, those who are eligible for this process have resided in the US for 23 years.”

The requirements are stringent. Each case will be individually assessed by the DHS, and if approved the noncitizens will be given three years to apply for permanent residency.

It’s estimated that 500,000 noncitizen spouses and 50,000 noncitizen children will benefit from the process, not 1 million. And the beneficiaries may only apply for permanent residence, not citizenship.

There has been no credible news that Biden recently “gave citizenship to 1 million illegal aliens by executive order”. The claim is false.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 13 August 2024

The post No, US president Biden hasn’t given citizenship to 1 million illegal immigrants – new process only to ‘keep families together’ appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 5 July 2024

Has an Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) official who reported vote rigging in South Africa’s 29 May 2024 elections been arrested?

That’s the claim circulating on social media since late June.*

The election results were historic. The African National Congress (ANC) won just 40.2% of the national vote, losing its 30-year parliamentary majority. Next up was the Democratic Alliance (DA) with 21.8% of the vote, and then the new uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), headed by former president Jacob Zuma, with 14.6%.

With no outright winner, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa invited the DA and other parties to form a government of national unity (GNU), last seen in South Africa from 1994 to 1997. The DA accepted but the MKP, which has challenged the election results in court, declined. The GNU cabinet of ministers was sworn in on 3 July.

The viral claim has it that “senior IEC officials” confessed that they had been bribed by Ramaphosa and DA leader John Steenhuisen to rig the elections “in favour of the ANC 40% and the DA 20%” so that the DA could “sneak into” a government of national unity.

Africa Check has debunked the claim that the ANC and DA bribed IEC officials to rig the elections.

But the new claim adds:

Now one of many IEC whistleblowers gets arrested by the Hawks for an old case of where she used to worked from 2006-2011 at one of the commercial Banks whose Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Partner was no other than Ramaphosa […] to humiliate her. Why did the Hawks arrest her after 13 years and on whose instructions […] After she has implicated Ramaphosa in Vote Rigging and Bribery[?]

The Hawks are the police’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.

The claim is attributed to the “uMkhonto weSizwe Khoisan Federation” and ends by reiterating the MKP’s court challenge to the results. The party withdrew its case on 3 July.

She’s not mentioned by name, but the claim clearly refers to Nomsa Masuku. Masuku is one of the IEC’s four commissioners and was arrested on 21 July, the day before the claim appeared online. One version includes a screengrab of a news report of her arrest.

Is there any evidence Masuku was arrested because she’s “one of many IEC whistleblowers” to election rigging?

R1.2 million theft from charity reported 10 years ago

Masuku’s arrest – coming so soon after the elections and given her high position in the IEC – was widely reported by local news.

But the arrest was for well-documented fraud, allegedly committed while Masuku headed the Standard Bank charity Adopt a School more than a decade ago.

A police spokesperson said an “intensive probe” by Hawks investigators established that Masuku had “flouted the processes of the trust by awarding scholarships to friends and family members through manipulation of documents and without the approval of the committee, with some of the monies deposited directly into her personal bank account to the tune of R1.2 million”.

A TimesLive report details the case against Masuku. One detail is that the matter was “initially flagged by Standard Bank and reported to police 10 years ago”.

The case has nothing to do with South Africa’s 2024 elections.

Ramaphosa was once a director of the board of Standard Bank and several other companies, but resigned from these positions after his return to politics in 2012.

The ANC’s performance in the 2024 elections was its worst in 30 years. In the event that Ramaphosa had bribed IEC officials to rig the polls – and then had a whistleblower arrested “to humiliate her” – his party surely would have won far more than just 40.2% of the vote.

But there’s no evidence for any of this. The claim is false.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 9 July 2024

The post IEC commissioner arrested for decade-old graft – not for blowing whistle on ‘vote rigging’ in South Africa’s elections appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 3 July 2024

In a “family meeting” on the evening of 30 June 2024, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa announced his expanded cabinet in the country’s new government of national unity.

Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) lost its 30-year parliamentary majority in elections held on 29 May. The ANC got just 40.2% of the national vote, with 21.8% going to the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and 14.6% to the newcomer uMkhonto weSizwe Party.

With no majority, the parties negotiated a unity government. This included giving some cabinet positions to members of opposition parties. South Africa’s cabinet is made up of ministers and deputy ministers of national departments.

The DA’s Leon Schreiber was appointed minister of home affairs. The department maintains South Africa’s population register, issues IDs and passports, and handles immigration – including the status of refugees and asylum seekers.

Soon after Ramaphosa’s cabinet announcement, a viral claim that Schreiber was “a Zimbabwean foreigner” appeared on social media.*

It reads:

The Republic of South Africa demands answers as the DA Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber who is alleged to a Zimbabwean foreigner is given a key position in country. On Wikipedia Leon’s place of birth was changed 5 hours ago from Zimbabwe to South Africa, this is happening while South Africa is watching.

Migration into South Africa – particularly the migration of people from elsewhere on the continent – was a major issue in the 2024 elections. The anti-migrant social movement Operation Dudula went so far as to attempt to register as a political party before the polls.

People from Zimbabwe and Mozambique, two of South Africa’s closest neighbours, are often targets of this xenophobia.

Schreiber’s place of birth was recently changed on his Wikipedia page. But that’s no proof he’s “a Zimbabwean foreigner”. Instead, it points to disinformation.

Wikipedia tracks all changes

Wikipedia is a free and open-source encyclopaedia maintained by volunteers across the internet. Anyone can edit a Wikipedia page, although others may quickly revert – change back – the edits if they disagree.

But every single published change to any Wikipedia page is saved, with its own online address, in the page’s history.

Using the revision history tab on Schreiber’s Wikipedia page, we found that it was first created on 21 April 2020. The original sidebar summary says he was born in “Namaqualand, Cape Province, South Africa” in 1988.

In 1996 the old Cape province was divided into the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and the western part of North West. Today, the broad Namaqualand region extends southwards from Namibia into South Africa’s Northern and Western Cape.

Schreiber’s place of birth remained unchanged on Wikipedia for more than four years. Then came the evening of Ramaphosa’s cabinet appointments.

Although delayed on public TV, the appointments were released at 21:00 on 30 June. Twelve minutes later, at 21:12, an unnamed Wikipedia user changed Schreiber’s birthplace from Namaqualand to “Borrowdale, Harare Zimbabwe”.

Borrowdale is a wealthy suburb in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital.

A Wikipedia “edit war” soon followed, with users reverting the change, others putting it back, and so on. At one point Schreiber’s nationality was changed from “South African” to “Zimbabwean]]on”.

The page was eventually protected from arbitrary editing in the afternoon of 1 July. The current page (as of 3 July) says Schreiber was born in “Piketberg, Cape Province”. Piketberg in the Western Cape is part of the Namaqualand region.

All of Schreiber’s other online biographies put his birthplace in Namaqualand, South Africa. There is no evidence that South Africa’s new home affairs minister was born in Harare or is “a Zimbabwean foreigner”.

Wikipedia is an invaluable source of information. But it can be abused to create disinformation.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 4 July 2024

The post Wikipedia edit war no proof that South Africa’s new home affairs minister Schreiber is a ‘Zimbabwean foreigner’ appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 18 JUNE 2024

A video of ballot boxes piled high in a series of storerooms has been circulating on social media since 3 June 2024 with the claim that “uncounted” votes from South Africa’s recent elections are inside.*

The boxes carry the logo of the country’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

“Uncounted sealed boxes discovered stored away,” a typical caption reads. “IEC, we didn’t stand in long queues for our votes to be hidden.” At one point the videographer demonstrates that each box is held closed with a cable tie.

South Africa’s national and provincial elections took place on 29 May, with a 58.6% voter turnout. The results were announced on 2 June. The viral video appeared the next day.

The election results were historic. The African National Congress lost the majority it had held since 1994, garnering only 40.2% of the national vote. The Democratic Alliance (DA) won 21.8% and the newcomer uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) – headed by former president Jacob Zuma – 14.6%.

The DA was re-elected to the government of the Western Cape province. In KwaZulu-Natal, the MK Party won 45.6% of the provincial vote.

Some social media users claim the “hidden” boxes contain votes cast in the Western Cape. Others say they affected the MK Party’s results in KwaZulu-Natal.

Variations on the claim include:

• THIS IS THE “FRAUD” AND “CORRUPTION” YOUR OFFICIALS HAVE DONE IN KZN…THEY STOLE PEOPLE’S VOTE!!!
• Western Cape Election has been rigged by Zionists… We don’t recognize Alan Winde as Western Cape Premier
• IEC exposed for not counting hundreds of ballot boxes
• MK Party’s 2/3rd majority is locked up in here!

In mid-June the MK Party filed an application with the electoral court to have the results of the election nullified, claiming it was not “free and fair”. Days before, the constitutional court dismissed the party’s application to prevent the first sitting of parliament.

But does the video really show sealed and hidden ballot boxes full of votes the IEC did not count?

‘In the absence of evidence, do not spread false information’

In the first few seconds of the video you can see the province, municipal code and voting district (VD) number set out in the form printed on IEC ballot boxes.

These handwritten details reveal that the votes inside were cast in KwaZulu-Natal, not the Western Cape.

We were also able to discern two VD numbers: 43950898 and 4395084, both in the Msunduzi municipality of KwaZulu-Natal (municipal code KZN 225).

We looked up the two districts’ national voting data on the IEC’s 2024 results portal. In both a clear majority of votes went to the MK Party (62% in the first district and 72% in the second). For Msunduzi as a whole, the MK Party won 52.6% of the vote.

The video is clearly not proof that the IEC “rigged” results in the Western Cape – the votes were cast in KwaZulu-Natal. And if it shows an attempt to “lock up” votes for the MK Party, the attempt wasn’t effective.

On the day the claim appeared online, the IEC took to X/Twitter to dismiss it. Resealed ballot boxes, the commission said, had by law to be retained for six months. And the boxes weren’t “hidden”: they were stored in an official IEC warehouse.

It’s worth quoting the IEC’s response in full:

This video shows election materials stored and awaiting roll-back from voting districts to the IEC provincial warehouse. This includes counted ballots, which are sealed inside ballot boxes, voter management devices and other security and bulk materials. By law, all ballots from an election must be retained for a period of six months. Note that, after counting, voting station diaries and results slips are signed off by all party agents present before the results are uploaded. In the absence of any evidence to substantiate your claims, do not spread false information.

This video shows election materials stored and awaiting roll-back from voting districts to the IEC provincial warehouse. This includes counted ballots, which are sealed inside ballot boxes, voter management devices and other security and bulk materials. By law, all ballots from…

— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) June 3, 2024

False claims of election rigging are on the uptick across the world, from Nigeria and Brazil to Slovakia and, notoriously, the United States. These claims undermine democracy and people’s faith in their governments.

There is no evidence that the video shows “hidden” boxes full of “uncounted” votes from South Africa’s pivotal 2024 elections.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 21 June 2024

The post Zero evidence video shows boxes of ‘hidden’, ‘uncounted’ votes cast in South Africa’s 2024 elections appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 14 MAY 2024
Published by Africa Check on 20 May 2024

“Venus Williams forfeits match against trans woman,” reads text on a graphic circulating on social media in Nigeria, South Africa and elsewhere since late April 2024.*

“I’m not playing a man,” it quotes US tennis champion Williams as saying.

The graphic includes two photos, one supposedly of Venus Williams and the other of another female tennis player.

The graphic has been posted with comments such as:

• He should go and play with his fellow men or transgender. They should have their own category. They need to stop pitching them against biological women.
• Well said all women should do this.
• Venus is absolutely right on this. These people should stop forcing themselves on others.

The graphic can also be seen here, here, here, here, here and here.

But it’s false. Before we look into why, some definitions.

What is trans?

As categories, gender and sex are different things. Gender refers to socially accepted ideas of girlhood and womanhood, on the one hand, and boyhood and manhood on the other. Sex is based on biology and physiology, usually female and male but with some variations in between.

Trans or transgender people are born biologically male or female but have a different sense of themselves, unrelated to their biological sex. A trans woman was labelled male at birth but identifies as female. A trans man was labelled female at birth but identifies as male.

Trans encompasses a broad range of human experience. Some trans people simply dress and act according to their gender identity. Others choose to undergo hormone therapy or even medical procedures to make their bodies reflect their gender.

Trans is different to intersex, people whose bodies don’t fit neatly into the sex categories of male and female. Intersex people can be born with a range of differences in their chromosomes, genitals, genetic features or other parts of their bodies. South African athletics champion Caster Semenya is widely understood to be intersex.

Trans is the T in the acronym LGBTQIA+ and intersex is the I. The other letters stand for lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer or questioning, and asexual.

The rights of trans people have become an issue in the 2024 US presidential election. Likely Republican candidate Donald Trump has said he will roll back protections for trans people put in place by current Democratic president Joe Biden.

Back to the graphic.

Serena Williams and Amelie Mauresmo

Africa Check cropped the photos out of the graphic and ran them through reverse image searches.

We found the first photo, supposedly of Venus Williams, in a September 2022 article by the Japan Times. It’s headlined: “Serena Williams ends magical run at U.S. Open in what was likely her final tournament.”

Serena Williams is Venus Williams’s younger sister. She’s also a tennis champion.

In the article, the photo’s caption reads: “Serena Williams leaves the court after losing her third-round match to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic.” It’s attributed to the news service Reuters.

Other photos – here, here, here, here and here – show Serena Williams at the same September 2022 tournament, wearing the same outfit.

We found the second photo – claimed to be a “trans woman” – on the stock image site Flickr. It was uploaded 10 years ago in June 2014 and is titled “Amelie Mauresmo”.

Amelie Mauresmo is a retired professional tennis player based in France. She is not trans.

The photo can also be seen here, here and here, in each instance identified as Mauresmo.

Venus Williams is a famous, record-breaking athlete, and transgender issues have become a hot social and political topic. But there are no credible news reports of Williams forfeiting a match against a trans woman because she “refused to play a man”. If she had, it would have made global headlines.

The claim is false.

* Some claims posted on Facebook and Instagram may have been deleted by users after being rated via Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.

The post ‘I’m not playing a man?’ No, US tennis champ Venus Williams didn’t refuse match against trans woman appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 26 April 2024
Published by Africa Check on 26 April 2024

“MOZAMBIQUE CITIZENS IMPORTED FROM THEIR HOMES TO COME AND VOTE FOR ANC IN UPCOMING MAY ELECTIONS,” reads the copied-and-pasted caption for a video going viral on WhatsApp and Facebook in South Africa in April 2024.*

It adds: “THEY ARE NOW STATIONED IN GAUTENG and Getting processed to have ‘VOTING CARDS’ ID CARDS BY A HOME AFFAIRS-CONTRACTED ‘AGENT’.”

South Africa is set to hold national and provincial elections on 29 May. The vote is likely to be game-changing, as opinion polls suggest the ruling African National Congress (ANC) may lose the parliamentary majority it has held since 1994.

Mozambique borders South Africa to the northeast. Migrants from the country – and elsewhere in Africa – have long been targets of anti-migrant sentiment and xenophobic violence in South Africa. Many migrants come to Gauteng province, the country’s economic centre.

The video begins with the cameraman questioning a man in a blue vest standing in a dusty yard. He is asked if he is an “agent”. The man shows the insignia on his vest, two logos that spell out CNE and STAE. He explains that he is registering people for voters’ cards.

The cameraman then heads off to a nearby building, muttering “This is out automatically of order.”

Inside the building we see people in similar blue vests at tables with laptops and other electronic equipment, and a crowd waiting in chairs.

The camera zooms in on a document being printed and then on a man cropping ID photos. The cameraman asks where he is from and he says Maputo, the capital of Mozambique.

The claim has been posted on Facebook dozens of times, including here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. It also appears on X and YouTube.

But does the video really show Mozambicans “imported” into South Africa to “vote for ANC” being “processed” for “voting cards ID cards”?

Voters’ card used in Mozambique, not South Africa

First, South Africa’s voter registration drive ended on 23 February, the day the election date was announced.

Extensive searches, including reverse image searches of frames from the video, could find no online evidence of the footage earlier than 17 April. It would be impossible for the video to show “imported” Mozambicans being “processed” to vote in South Africa’s elections as the voters’ roll was closed almost two months before.

Second, voting in South Africa requires a green barcoded ID book, smart-card ID or temporary ID certificate. The country does not have a separate voters’ card.

A country that does is Mozambique.

The CNE and STAE logos on the man in the video’s blue vest belong to Mozambique’s Comissão Nacional de Eleições (Portuguese for national electoral commission) and Secretariado Técnico de Administração Eleitoral (technical secretariat for election management). STAE is responsible for voter registration under the supervision of CNE.

Mozambique is set to hold national, provincial and presidential elections on 9 October.

On 30 March, CNE-STAE launched a cross-border voter registration drive with the aim of registering 200,000 Mozambican citizens living in South Africa. The drive focuses on the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, which border Mozambique, as well as Gauteng.

By 21 April, some 136,000 Mozambicans in South Africa had been registered to vote in their country’s 9 October elections. The process ends on 28 April.

The video shows a CNE-STAE registration station issuing Mozambican voters’ cards to Mozambicans in South Africa.

Laxton voter registration kit not used in South Africa

And the video itself offers two more bits of evidence that the claim is false.

The electronic equipment (at the 1:33 minute mark) are mobile voter registration kits supplied to CNE-STAE by the China-based Laxton Group, which specialises in election and identity technology. Photos of the kit can also be seen here and here.

The Laxton kit is not used to register voters for South African elections.

The document being printed (at the 1:45 minute mark) is headed “República de Moçambique, Comissão Nacional de Eleições, Secretariado Técnico de Administração Eleitoral.” It includes the emblem and flag of Mozambique. And although larger, it resembles the Mozambican voters’ card.

Even Facebook users spreading the claim admit it is false. One of the earliest instances, posted on 18 April, begins with the usual “MOZAMBIQUE CITIZENS IMPORTED FROM THEIR HOMES …”

But it ends with an equally uppercased: “I DON’T CAR IF IT’S TO VOTE IN MOZAMBIQUE IN OCTOBER, WHY IS SOUTH AFRICA INVOLVED?”

* Some claims posted on Facebook and Instagram may have been deleted by users after being rated via Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.

The post No, migrants registering for Mozambique’s 2024 elections – not ‘imported’ to vote for South Africa’s ANC appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 9 APRIL 2024
Published by Africa Check on 19 April 2024

A photo of an open-air toilet on the verge of a road running through the shacks of an informal settlement is doing the rounds on social media with the claim it’s the work of South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC).*

The toilet has no walls, roof or door. The photo shows a smiling woman looking at it.

A common caption reads: “That’s what we call Public Toilets, Big Up ANC iyasebenza.” In isiXhosa and isiZulu, “iyasebenza” can be translated as “it works” or “it is working”.

South Africa is set to hold national and provincial elections on 29 May 2024. The claim started circulating online in late February.

Opinion polls suggest the vote may be the most pivotal in 30 years, with the ANC forecast to lose the parliamentary majority it has held since 1994.

The party’s main opposition are the Democratic Alliance, the Economic Freedom Fighters and, possibly, the newcomer uMkhonto weSizwe Party, backed by popular former ANC president Jacob Zuma.

The supply of basic services such as sanitation (toilets and sewage systems) – as well as roads, housing, electricity, clean water and rubbish removal – is a hot political issue in South Africa.

Regular power blackouts known as loadshedding have plagued the country for years, and over 100 major protests against poor service delivery have erupted every year since 2009.

The claim can also be seen here, here, here, here, here and here.

But does the photo really show an unenclosed public toilet erected by the ANC?

Open toilets in City of Cape Town informal settlements

A reverse image search reveals that the photo has been online since at least January 2010 – more than 14 years ago.

It appears in a blog post headlined: “Khayelitsha open-air toilet ‘deal’ is ludicrous!” Its caption reads: “Cllr June Frans stands next to one of the open air toilets in Khayelitsha. Their position right next to the road is very clear.”

Khayelitsha is a large township in the Western Cape province. It’s part of the City of Cape Town municipality, which includes Cape Town itself as well as surrounding towns and townships.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has governed the City of Cape Town since 2006.

The photo shows an open public toilet the DA municipal council installed in the Makhaza informal settlement of Khayelitsha in 2009.

It was one of 1,316 public toilets the DA set up in informal settlements that year, on condition that the community would build structures around them. Residents enclosed 1,265 of the toilets, leaving 51 in the open.

In 2010 the ANC took the DA to court, saying the toilets violated residents’ constitutional right to dignity. The Western Cape high court ruled in the ANC’s favour and ordered the DA to enclose the toilets.

During the case the DA claimed that when the ANC controlled the municipality from 2000 to 2005, over 4,000 open public toilets had been installed with the same condition that they be covered by residents.

In 2011 the Social Justice Coalition, which works in townships across the municipality, reported that in Khayelitsha, in some cases, “as many as 500 people are expected to share one chemical toilet”.

Nonetheless, census data shows that the Western Cape has the highest percentage of households with access to a flushing toilet. The province is governed by the DA. South Africa’s eight other provinces are under the ANC.

According to the 2022 census, 93.9% of Western Cape households have a flushing toilet, with Gauteng next at 89.7%. The lowest share is in Limpopo (35.2%) followed by Mpumalanga (54.9%).

* Some claims posted on Facebook and Instagram may have been deleted by users after they were rated via Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.

The post Open public toilet installed by South Africa’s ruling African National Congress? No, photo snapped in opposition-controlled Cape Town in 2010 appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 2 APRIL 2024

After a controversial month-long delay, the West African country of Senegal held its presidential election on 24 March 2024.

Two of the 19 candidates – the highest number in the country’s history – led the pack.

One was the ruling Benno Bokk Yaakaar alliance’s Amadou Ba, a former prime minister who outgoing president Macky Sall chose as his successor.

The other was Bassirou Diomaye Faye of the opposition Pastef party. Faye was released from prison just 10 days before the vote. Also released was popular Pastef leader Ousmane Sonko.

The party itself had been dissolved by Senegal’s government in 2023 and Sonko was barred from running. So Faye stepped in.

On 25 March, less than 24 hours after voting stations closed, Ba conceded to Faye. Senegal’s electoral commission had announced that Faye had won 53.68% of the 90% of ballots counted.

The next day, a short video of a man giving a speech in English appeared on social media with the claim he was Faye, saying “it’s time for France to leave Senegal alone”.*

Senegal is a French-speaking country and was France’s oldest African colony until independence in 1960. The two countries maintain strong political and economic ties, and France has an air force base in Dakar, Senegal’s capital.

The video is overlaid with the text: “The next African President is speaking. Even His English is clean than alot of current Presidents in our Continent.” Its captions identify the man as Faye.

The clip begins with the man appearing to say:

It is high time for France to lift its knee off our neck and put an end to this unjust oppression. Centuries of misery, human trafficking, colonialism and neocolonialism have caused immeasurable suffering. It is time to put an end to this cycle of oppression. It’s high time for France to leave us alone.

The video can also be seen here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Faye and his allies have pledged to fight France’s “economic stranglehold” on Senegal. But is the man in the video really Faye, speaking English?

Sonko’s 2021 press conference – in French

The man in the video is clearly Ousmane Sonko, not Bassirou Faye.

Africa Check googled videos using the French keywords “discours d’Ousmane Sonko” – “speech by Ousmane Sonko”.

This led us to a press conference Sonko held in Dakar on 2 July 2021. It was streamed live on YouTube by Senegal7, a local TV news channel.

Sonko’s posture and gestures, his suit, the white background and the Senegalese flag to his right all indicate that the viral video was taken from the live stream.

In the stream, Sonko gives an hour-and-a-half speech on a range of topics – in French. He posted a transcript of the speech, also in French, on his X/Twitter account on the same day.

Not only does the viral video show Sonko, but it has been altered, with English audio replacing Sonko’s original French.

But Sonko did say something similar in his 2021 speech. A machine translation of a part of its transcript reads:

But it is time for France to lift its knee from our necks and do like its European peers (Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, etc.) who are prospering without sucking the blood of the former colonies.

Mais il est temps que la France lève son genou de notre cou et fasse comme ses pairs européens (Allemagne, Italie, Espagne, Grande Bretagne, Suède, Pays-Bas,…) qui prospèrent sans sucer le sang des anciennes colonies.

— Ousmane Sonko (@SonkoOfficiel) July 2, 2021

A six-minute excerpt of the speech was also posted on the Satanal Media YouTube channel, headlined (in French) “It’s time for France to let go of us.”

Faye was inaugurated on 2 April 2024. At 44, he is Senegal’s youngest president yet.

* Some claims posted on Facebook and Instagram may have been deleted by users after being rated via Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.

Published by Africa Check on 12 April 2024

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