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

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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

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MARY ALEXANDER • 5 JUNE 2024

“AMERICAN soldiers watch as RUSSIAN soldiers TAKE OVER a base the US built and paid for in NIGER,” reads the caption for a photo circulating on social media since May 2024.*

The photo shows two people in uniform, their backs to the camera, looking at three armoured vehicles on a dusty road. The vehicles fly the flag of Russia.

Niger is a country in West Africa, bordering Nigeria to the north. In July 2023 the government of its democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum was ousted in a military coup.

In March 2024 the military government revoked a security pact that had allowed the US to station some 1,000 troops on two bases in Niger to help fight insurgents linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

A month later the US announced it would withdraw its forces from Niger. In May, the two countries agreed that the withdrawal would be complete by 15 September.

In the meantime, military trainers from Russia arrived in Niger “to develop military cooperation between Russia and Niger”. Russian security forces have also been deployed to the same airbase as US troops. The base, outside the capital of Niamey, belongs to the Nigerien airforce.

But does the photo really show Russian soldiers taking over a “base the US built and paid for” in Niger?

May 2020 encounter between troops in northeastern Syria

Africa Check ran the photo through a TinEye reverse image search and sorted the results by date. This revealed that the photo has been online since May 2020 – more than four years ago.

Further searches led us to a Greek-language news report of an encounter between patrolling US and Russian forces in the Middle East country of Syria in May 2020.

Here the photo is credited to Syria-based freelance Agence France Presse photographer Delil Souleiman, who posted it on X (then Twitter).

#US soldiers stand along a road across from #Russian military armoured personnel carriers (APCs), near the village of Tannuriyah in the countryside east of #Qamishli in #Syria‘s northeastern Hasakah province on May 2, 2020.
DELIL SOULEIMAN / #AFP pic.twitter.com/LfNfOj1Xkk

— Delil souleiman (@Delilsouleman) May 2, 2020

“#US soldiers stand along a road across from #Russian military armoured personnel carriers (APCs), near the village of Tannuriyah in the countryside east of #Qamishli in #Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province on May 2, 2020,” the post reads.

The photo can also be seen on the Getty Images stock photo site with a similar caption. It does not show any military base.

In May 2020 Syria was still in the throes of a civil war that began in 2011. Russia gave the Syrian government military support, while the US involvement was largely against the Islamic State and to protect the Kurdish minority.

There were several reports of run-ins between Russian and US troops in Syria’s northeast in 2020.

The photo was shot in Syria in 2020, not in Niger in 2024.

* 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 7 June 2024

The post Russian troops taking over US base in Niger? No, photo shot in Syria appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 20 May 2024

“This is Hamza Bendelladj. Hacked 217 banks and made 4000 million USD. Donated everything to Africa and Palestine. He was executed with a smile.”

This eight-year old zombie claim is again doing the rounds on social media, including in Nigeria and South Africa, in April and May 2024.*

Most versions use a graphic with a photo of a smiling man in handcuffs being escorted by two other men. Another photo shows a similar-looking man, also smiling, with a noose around his neck.

In South Africa, the graphic was posted on a Facebook page for supporters of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, with the comment: “He was Black conscientised.” The country is set to hold general elections on 29 May.

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

But as fact-checkers have been pointing out for years, the financial hacker Hamza Bendelladj is alive, although in a US prison. And the man in the noose is not Bendelladj.

Who is Hamza Bendelladj?

Bendelladj comes from the North African country of Algeria. He became known as the “smiling hacker” and the “happy hacker” because he’s shown with a big grin on his face in photos taken after his arrest in Thailand in 2013 . He was extradited to the US.

In 2016 a US court sentenced Bendelladj, then 27, to 15 years in prison after he was found guilty of wire and bank fraud, computer fraud and abuse, and conspiring to commit these crimes.

He and his accomplice, Russian hacker Aleksandr Panin, developed malicious software known as SpyEye. The virus would infect people’s computers and steal banking logins, credit card details, usernames, passwords and other personal information. They also sold the malware to other hackers.

According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, SpyEye was the “preeminent malware for cyber criminals” from 2009 to 2011, used to infect more than 10 million computers and causing close to US$1 billion “in financial harm to individuals and institutions”.

In 2015, while Bendelladj was on trial, there were rumours that he had donated the money he stole to Palestine. But no proof of this has emerged. There’s also no evidence that he donated it “to Africa”, whatever that means.

Rumours also emerged that the US court would sentence him to death. This prompted the US ambassador to Algeria to take to X (then Twitter) to say: “Computer crimes are not capital crimes & are not punishable by the death penalty.”

Hacker set to be released in July 2024

Bendelladj is now 35 years old and being held in the Terminal Island low-security federal prison in San Pedro, a city in the US state of California. According to the federal prisons inmates locator, he is set to be released on 6 July.

The smiling hacker has not been executed. So who is the man with the rope around his neck?

As Africa Check found when we debunked the claim back in February 2020, the photo shows Majid Kavousifar, who was publicly executed in the Middle Eastern country of Iran in 2007 for the murder of a judge.

The claim that Bendelladj was “executed with a smile” has been online since February 2016, popping up sporadically every year since then. Its resurgence in 2024 may have something to do with Israel’s war on Gaza. But it remains false.

Update: Bendelladj was released from US imprisonment and returned to Algeria in July 2024. He is active on social media.

* 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 June 2024

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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.

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MARY ALEXANDER • 22 APRIL 2024
Published by Africa Check on 25 April 2024

“WW3 ALERT.”

That’s the fearmongering theme of a false message circulating on social media since mid-March 2024. WW3 refers to a possible third world war.

The message claims that China has said it will “intervene militarily” if the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) attack Russia.*

China, Russia and the US are among the world’s most powerful countries. Nato – also known by its French acronym Otan – is a military alliance formed in 1949 in response to a perceived threat from the Russia-controlled Soviet Union, which fell apart in 1991.

Nato’s members include Canada and the US in North America, countries in Europe, and Turkey, which straddles Europe and Asia. Its newest member is the previously nonaligned European country of Sweden, which joined on 7 March 2024.

China and Russia are not Nato members.

The false claim has recently appeared on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) in Nigeria, South Africa and elsewhere. Its versions include:

• CHINA WARNS USA AND NATO. “China is ready to intervene militarily anywhere if the US or NATO decide to attack Russia,” said a Chinese Defense Ministry official.
• “China is prepared to get militarily involved anywhere, if the US and NATO decide ro attack Russia.” ~Spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Defence. The Chinese know that if the US and NATO are not stopped now, it will be China’s turn next.
• TANKEFEI, spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense: “#China is ready to intervene militarily anywhere if the #US or #NATO were to undertake to attack #Russia”
• China Declared that they are Ready, to intervene anywhere militarily if US or Nato Attack Russia. It Brics VS West.

Brics is an intergovernmental grouping founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Many versions of the claim include a video of Chinese president Xi Jinping addressing a huge crowd of soldiers, with military vehicles behind them.

Others link to a 17 March article on the India-based website Times Now, headlined: “China ‘Ready to Intervene’ if US, NATO attack Russia: Report”.

But the claim is false, and old. It first appeared online more than two years ago, when it was dismissed by China’s military.

‘Stop manufacturing and disseminating false information’

First, the video of Xi addressing soldiers is more than six years old. It was posted in an article on the UK Guardian’s website, dated 4 January 2018 and headlined: “Chinese army puts on show of military might for Xi Jinping – video”.

The clip shows 7,000 troops at the start of military training outside Beijing, China’s capital. The subtitles to Xi’s speech do not mention the US, Nato or Russia.

Second, the only source Times Now credits in its article is the dodgy Telegram channel WW3.INFO Battlefield Research. The channel has been criticised for posting false information.

Third, the claim dates back to late February 2022 in the days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

At the time it circulated only in French and Spanish. But machine translations show it’s the same claim.

• From French: “Chinese Ministry of National Defence spokesperson Tan Kefei said that anytime, anywhere, they are ready to support Russia in case the United States and NATO want to intervene militarily.”
• From Spanish: “CHINA WILL SUPPORT RUSSIA IF THE US AND NATO INTERVENE MILITARY… It was announced by the Chinese Ministry of Defense. #China #Rusia #Ucrania #EEUU #OTAN #Asia #Europa #Francia #Alemania”

The original claim, in Spanish, can also be seen here, here and here.

At the time, it was fact-checked by Agence France-Presse (AFP), which found it had no basis in fact.

The fact-check adds that China’s defence ministry “strongly denied” the claim.

AFP quotes the ministry as saying (in a machine translation from French): “The spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of National Defence has never made this statement. We urge relevant media to observe professional ethics and stop manufacturing and disseminating false information.”

And there has been no recent credible news that China announced it would mount a military intervention in the still-unlikely event that the US and Nato invade Russia. Such an announcement would have made global headlines.

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

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MARY ALEXANDER • 21 April 2024
Published by Africa Check on 25 April 2024

The April 2024 total solar eclipse over North America has sparked many myths, false claims and conspiracy theories.

One is a warning that, “tonight”, “cosmic light rays” will “pass near” Earth, causing us “harmful effects of radiation”.*

A total solar eclipse happens when the moon, in its orbit around our planet, briefly covers the entire face of the sun. This cuts off sunlight, turning day to night.

The complex interplay of Earth’s rotation, the moon’s orbit around Earth, and the orbit of the two around the sun means total solar eclipses are rare and only occur over small parts of the planet. The highly anticipated 8 April eclipse was only seen in a tight diagonal across parts of Canada, Mexico and the contiguous United States.

This video explains more:

The “cosmic light rays” warning appeared on social media in several African countries – including Nigeria, Liberia, Rwanda, Sudan and South Sudan – in early April, with a peak just before, during and after the day of the North American eclipse.

It’s long and repetitive, but these are the basics:

Tonight between 12:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. … turn off your cell phone, laptop, etc. and keep it away from your body … our earth will face the highest radiation. Cosmic light rays will pass near the earth … it will cause us harmful effects of radiation. You can see it on google and NASA and BBC news.

Nasa is the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the BBC is the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The warning adds: “Share this message with other people who are important to your family, friends, friends and even your wife.”

Many instances of the warning associate it with the 2024 solar eclipse, with comments such as “thankfully not in Africa” and “Only In The Parts Of North America Bruh”.

It spread widely in Sudan and South Sudan. On 8 April, the day of the eclipse, it was posted on AKOKA TV, a Facebook page based in Juba, South Sudan’s capital. The post includes four photos of a solar eclipse.

But the warning is old, and false. Here’s why.

Understanding cosmic radiation

First, there’s no such scientific term as “cosmic light rays”. Cosmic rays, instead, is an old term coined in 1925 for what’s now more commonly known as cosmic radiation. And it doesn’t just “pass near” Earth. It washes over the planet all the time.

But it’s not the radiation we associate with nuclear power. Radiation exists in many forms and is an everyday thing. Our radios and microwave ovens, for example, are powered by radiation.

Cosmic radiation comes from stars, as atoms violently ejected from a star are stripped to their subatomic particles and hurtled into space.

Some of the cosmic rays that hit Earth are from collapsed stars known as black holes and the old explosions of other stars, all many trillions and quadrillions of kilometres away.

But most of it comes from the sun, our closest star. Cosmic radiation from the sun has also been called the solar wind, which causes the northern and southern lights. These stunning swirls of colour in the sky – the aurora borealis in the far northern hemisphere and the aurora australis in the far south – show the solar wind interacting with Earth’s magnetic field.

And that’s key. Earth has a strong magnetic field – a magnetosphere – created by its rotating molten iron core. Mars and Venus, Earth’s neighbours in the solar system and planets made of the same rocky stuff, don’t have a strong magnetosphere. And no life has been detected on them.

Earth’s magnetosphere, as well as its atmosphere – the thick layer of gas that covers the planet – protects us from cosmic radiation. Life here has flourished for billions of years, all the time swept by cosmic rays.

In fact, the regions of Earth under the moon’s shadow during a total solar eclipse get a vastly reduced amount of cosmic radiation.

Africa Check could find no warning by Nasa or the BBC that “cosmic light rays” were about the “pass near” Earth.

‘Zombie’ claim that just won’t die

Different versions of the claim have been circulating online since at least January 2010 – more than 14 years ago.

At the time, the claim was that the cosmic rays would be coming from Mars. Here’s an example:

Tonight btw 12.30 – 0300am cosmic rays entering earth from mars. So all r advised to put off cellphones courtesy NASA BBC news. Its causes cancer…(if u believe dat switch ur phone off, if u dont ..keep it movin..u dig?)

Mars is a planet, not a star. It doesn’t emit cosmic radiation.

In June 2023 Africa Check fact-checked a similar claim, that “Today around 12am to 3am Cosmic rays will pass near earth so make sure you switch off your phones nd put it far away from you guys its dangerous it might hurt youtell others.”

It’s just one example of a “zombie” claim that, despite repeated debunks, just won’t die.

Then, as now, 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.

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MARY ALEXANDER • 15 APRIL 2024

“Happening: Africa invades Haiti.”

That’s the breathless text added to what seems to be a screenshot of an X/Twitter post by CNN,  circulating on social media.*

The post is dated 12 March 2024 and uses the @CNN handle. It reads: “Kenyan present William Ruto reportedly called president Joe Biden to organize the purchase of ‘several dozen’ WW2 era amphibious landing crafts for a naval invasion of the Haitian coast.”

Text below adds: “African nations are about to launch a D-day style invasion on Haiti. Holy fuck.”

The D-Day naval invasion of France was a turning point in the second world war.

On 11 March, the troubled Caribbean island country of Haiti was plunged into fresh turmoil when unelected prime minister Ariel Henry resigned as organised criminal gangs tightened their grip on the country. Earlier in the month a state of emergency was declared after the gangs freed some 3,500 inmates from a prison in Port au Prince, the capital.

Henry came to power after the assassination of president Jovenel Moïse in 2021. In January 2024 he left Haiti to visit, among other countries, Kenya. There he signed a deal to fast-track a long-delayed agreement to send paramilitary police to help tackle Haiti’s gang violence.

He has been stranded outside the country ever since.

The Kenya-led international policing mission to Haiti was approved by the UN security council in October 2023. But the day after Henry’s resignation, Kenyan president William Ruto announced that the mission would be “paused”.

Did CNN really tweet that Ruto then asked US president Joe Biden to organise the purchase of “WW2 era amphibious landing crafts” for a “naval invasion” of Haiti?

Ways to spot a fake

There are several signs that the X post is fake.

• On CNN’s verified X account, the profile pic is square with the CNN logo in normal proportions. On the viral image the pic is round and the logo squashed horizontally.
• The post ends with “Twitter for iPhone”. X (then Twitter) removed identification of the app used to make a post – “Twitter for iPhone” or “Twitter for Android” – more than a year ago, in December 2022.
• It uses language that wouldn’t be posted by an international news organisation. Ruto’s title of “president” is misspelled as “present”, and “landing crafts” written instead of “landing craft”.

Several advanced searches for the post on the @CNN X account returned no results. The account hasn’t mentioned, for example, “William Ruto”, “amphibious landing crafts” or “naval invasion” since at least 1 March 2024.

No news of Kenya planning to invade Haiti could be found on any CNN website, or reported by any other media organisation. The X post is fake.

On 13 April Ruto welcomed the establishment of a transitional presidential council in Haiti, a move intended to begin the restoration of order in the country.

* 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 19 April 2024

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MARY ALEXANDER • 28 MARCH 2024

Has former US president Donald Trump endorsed uMkhonto weSizwe, South Africa’s newest political party? A low-res video circulating on social media since early March 2024 indicates he has.*

In the clip, Trump appears to say:

Greetings. All South Africans, my name is president Donald Trump. I urge all South Africans to vote for uMkhonto weSizwe May 29th. The African National Congress of Cyril Ramaphosa has failed all South Africans. With this new backed party by president Jacob Zuma, all South Africans will matter. Vote uM …

It then cuts out.

South Africans are set to vote on 29 May in what are slated to be the country’s most pivotal elections in 30 years. Opinion polls suggest the ruling African National Congress (ANC) could lose the parliamentary majority it has held since 1994.

The new uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party takes its name – “spear of the nation” in isiZulu – from the ANC’s military wing during the struggle against apartheid. MK’s profile was boosted when former ANC president Jacob Zuma backed the party and began campaigning on its behalf.

The ANC recently lost a court bid to have the electoral commission’s registration of MK declared invalid. It is currently in another legal battle over who owns the uMkhonto weSizwe name and logo.

One opinion poll suggests that in KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma’s home province, the ANC could lose half its votes to MK in the upcoming elections.

But does the video really show Trump urging South Africans to vote for MK?

Another fake made with Parrot AI

First off, a closer look at the video clearly shows that the audio doesn’t match the movement of Trump’s lips.

Africa Check took screenshots of the video and ran them through a reverse image search. This revealed that the viral clip was taken from a 2017 interview with Trump by the US broadcaster NBC News. The MK party was registered in September 2023.

Trump’s tie, the angle of his face and the flag pin on his jacket are all the same. The background shows the same US presidential flag positioned to his left.

In the 13-minute NBC video, Trump says nothing about uMkhonto weSizwe. The viral video is fake.

It’s likely it was created by Parrot AI, which sells itself as a “celebrity voice generator”.

Africa Check recently debunked another fake, using the same NBC clip, in which Trump appears to berate Nigerians for criticising president Bola Tinubu. That video includes the Parrot AI logo.

* 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 11 April 2024

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MARY ALEXANDER • 22 MARCH 2024

On 4 March 2024 US president Joe Biden signed an executive order ending the “emergency with respect to the situation in Zimbabwe”.

It withdrew three previous presidential orders – from 2003, 2005 and 2008 – that imposed sanctions on members of the Zimbabwean government, military and civil service.

The orders said these individuals were responsible for undermining democracy in Zimbabwe, contributing to the “deliberate breakdown in the rule of law” in the country, as well as “politically motivated violence and intimidation”.

Executive order 3288 of 2003 imposed sanctions on a list of 77 high-ranking officials, including Zimbabwe’s then-president Robert Mugabe.

This kicked off what became known as the US government’s Zimbabwe sanctions programme, implemented by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac). It was expanded by the executive orders 3391 of 2005 and 13469 of 2008 to include more officials, their immediate family and their businesses.

In his March 2024 order, Biden said that while he remained “concerned with the situation in Zimbabwe”, executive order 3288 was “no longer needed”.

‘Why Zimbabweans must go back home’

Soon after news of Biden’s order broke, social media users began to claim that it meant the US had lifted sanctions “on Zimbabwe”.*

In neighbouring South Africa, some versions of the claim have overtones of xenophobia.

A 13 March X/Twitter post by Dudula News reads:

WHY ZIMBABWEANS MUST GO BACK HOME. The US has lifted sanctions on Zimbabwe and investors are looking to pour money into the country. ZEPs must be terminated with immediate effect so that Zimbabweans can go back home to rebuild their country.

Operation Dudula is a South African anti-migrant movement widely considered to be xenophobic. ZEPs or the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit allows people from Zimbabwe to live and work in South Africa.

Other versions of the claim include:

• Zimbabwe sanctions are lifted then zambabwean go home. USA lifted them so burn us South African when we come looking for jobs.
• Now that the United States has lifted the decades long of sanctions on Zimbabwe there is a very big speculation that there are somr countries that will be the next targets, and South Africa looks like the likely candidate …
• Recently, America lifted sanctions that were imposed on Zimbabwe. That is the hand of the Jews. Sooner or later, the Jews will move their economy from South Africa to Zimbabwe …
• The United States has lifted sanctions against Zimbabwe after 20 years, meaning that Zimbabwe can now access loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to grow its economy.
• Good news for Zimbabwe. US sanctions have been lifted all together according to informants… What a time. I’m going there to invest.

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

Biden’s order did repeal the sanctions imposed in 2003, 2005 and 2008. But a new set of sanctions on individuals and companies was introduced at the same time.

And sanctions against the country of Zimbabwe have not been lifted.

Sanctions moved to different regime – and Zidera remains

On 4 March, the day Biden signed the executive order, the US treasury’s Ofac imposed fresh sanctions on 11 Zimbabwean individuals and three businesses for “involvement in corruption or serious human rights abuse”.

The new sanctions list includes president Emmerson Mnangagwa and his wife Auxillia Mnangagwa, businessperson Kudakwashe Tagwirei and his wife Sandra Mpunga, as well as vice-president Constantino Chiwenga and defence minister Oppah Muchinguri.

The sanctioned firms are Tagwirei and Mpunga’s Sakunda Holdings, its subsidiary Fossil Agro, and the linked company Fossil Contracting.

The new sanctions were quickly condemned by government officials in Zimbabwe.

Targeted Ofac sanctions on high-ranking Zimbabweans now fall under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, instead of presidential executive orders. Under the act, the US penalises foreign government officials for what it determines are human rights offences by freezing their US-held assets and barring them from entering the country.

More than this, the main thrust of US sanctions against Zimbabwe as a country, the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, is still in place.

Known as Zidera or Zdera and amended in 2018, the act – among other things – prevents Zimbabwe from accessing funds from global financial institutions. These include the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank’s International Development Association and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

On 7 March US state department official David Gainer clarified Biden’s order:

Our policy toward Zimbabwe has not changed, but our sanction tools have. We continue to have serious concerns about human rights abuses and corruption. Key individuals … bear responsibility for these actions … With the Global Magnitsky programme, we’ll better be able to promote accountability for persons who engage in that conduct in Zimbabwe.

While the order removed one sanctions regime, it was replaced with another. And Zidera remains. US sanctions on Zimbabwe – the country – have not been lifted.

* 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 28 March 2024

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