AFP South Africa

No, Zimbabwe was not evicted from its London embassy -- it owns the building

Published on 17 October 2019 at 17:21

An image widely shared on social media shows furniture piled outside Zimbabwe’s London embassy, alongside claims that the government has been kicked out of the offices for failing to pay rent. This is false; Zimbabwe’s government owns the building and therefore cannot be evicted. Officials confirmed that the embassy had thrown out office furniture as part of a general “cleaning exercise”.

No, Thuli Madonsela did not pose in an apartheid-era flag with F.W. de Klerk — it’s a forgery

Published on 8 October 2019 at 17:19

A photo shared on Facebook appears to show South Africa’s former public protector Thuli Madonsela dressed in the old flag used in the country during apartheid. Posing alongside her is former president F.W. de Klerk. However, this image has been doctored, and not for the first time -- we’ve previously debunked another version which was edited to show controversial Afrikaans musician Steve Hofmeyer in place of de Klerk.

This widely-shared ranking of the ‘world’s most dangerous cities’ is based solely on a survey of how safe people feel

Published on 2 October 2019 at 10:58

Social media posts claiming to show a list of the world’s most dangerous cities have been widely shared online. South African users have questioned the veracity of the list, which places the small city of Pietermaritzburg second in the global ranking, along with another five South African entries in the top 20. However, the list comes from Numbeo, a website which acknowledges that its “crime indices” are solely based on online surveys about how safe people feel -- not objective data.

No, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame did not tell journalists that South Africa should be removed from the African Union

Published on 20 September 2019 at 11:15

Numerous social media posts and online articles have quoted Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame as suggesting to media that South Africa should be removed from the African Union in light of recent xenophobic violence. According to the posts and articles, which have been shared hundreds of times, Kagame accuses South African authorities of being complicit in the attacks. The claims are false: Kagame didn’t have a press briefing on the date mentioned in the posts, and his advisor Yolande Makolo has described the reports as “complete fabrications”.

No, Trump did not tweet a threat of sanctions against South Africa over recent xenophobic violence

Published on 18 September 2019 at 12:50

The screenshot of a tweet supposedly posted by US President Donald Trump, threatening economic sanctions over the recent xenophobic violence in South Africa, has spread on social media. Various websites have also reported that the United States is seeking to impose sanctions over the deadly unrest, based on the tweet. However, the screenshot is a forgery -- Trump posted no such tweet.

Languages