Forged South African broadcaster tweet makes false claims about coalition talks

The screenshot has been shared hundreds of times on social media here, here and here. It contains two purported tweets that appear to use eNCA’s Twitter handle.

The first reads: “DA leader John Steenhuisen: ‘Yes, it's true that discussions with the ANC around how we plan to work and govern together are at an advanced stage. For now, I am not able to give further details but only to confirm that the senior leadership of the ANC have accepted our proposal.’”

Just below, the second tweet reads: “ANC NEC member, Thembi Nkadimeng says the ruling party is open to having discussions with opposition parties. Nkadimeng says the ANC is willing to hold coalition talks with the DA. #eNCA #DStv403 #QuestionThinkAct #AllAngles.” Below is what appears to be a clip from eNCA’s news channel featuring Nkadimeng at a press briefing.

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Screenshot of a post featuring the fabricated Twitter thread, taken on July 12, 2023

Reactions to the posts were mixed, with some believing the claim and others calling it false.

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Screenshots of reactions to the false posts, taken on July 12, 2023

Doctored screenshot

The screenshot is a mix of fact and fiction.

It was created by using a real tweet from eNCA about Nkadimeng saying the ANC was willing to hold coalition talks with the DA. A fabricated tweet purportedly with Steenhuisen’s response was added above it in order to make it look like a Twitter thread.

South Africa holds general elections next year.

AFP Fact Check found the real eNCA tweet (archived here) published on the broadcaster’s timeline on July 10, 2023. It is a standalone post and not part of a thread.

The original tweet also featured a video clip in which Nkadimeng addressed (archived here) the media on July 9, 2023, saying South Africa’s deputy president Paul Mashatile was leading talks with opposition parties, including the country’s second biggest, the DA.

The ANC came to power in 1994 at the end of apartheid, while the DA emerged from the Democratic Party, which had opposed apartheid policies from within parliament. For three decades the two parties have been at loggerheads, with the ANC accusing the DA of representing the interests of white elites. The ANC rules with 57.5 percent of the National Assembly, while the DA has 20.77 percent (archived here).

During the recent media briefing, Nkadimeng implied that the strained relations between the parties were abating, and said that while the DA was not interested in talking to the ANC after the 2021 elections, they were open to discussions now.

“I think it’s the maturing of democracy,” she added.

As for the purported tweet in the top half of the screenshot, it does not appear on eNCA’s Twitter timeline.

Moreover, the screenshot does not look like a genuine Twitter thread, which usually connects linked tweets with a vertical line.

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Example of a Twitter thread highlighting the vertical line

“The top part in that tweet is not eNCA, the bottom part is what we got from the briefing,” eNCA’s managing director John Bailey told AFP Fact Check on July 12, 2023.

“It was clearly a manipulated process, and probably deliberate as well,” Bailey said.

In a tweet published on July 11, 2023, the ANC also dismissed the screenshot as “fake” (archived here).

Charity McCord, the spokesperson to the DA leader, told AFP Fact Check that Steenhuisen did not make this statement.

DA pre-election pact

In an opinion piece published this month, titled: “Opposition pact has a real chance of wresting power from the ANC”, Steenhuisen wrote about how six opposition parties are set to convene on August 16-17, 2023 with the aim of forming a pre-election pact in order to unseat the ruling ANC (archived here).

“A solid agreement will show voters that the pact has a clear pathway to victory, defined as dragging the ANC below 50 percent and inaugurating a government with a shared vision to address urgent national crises, including unemployment, load-shedding, crime and corruption,” wrote the opposition leader.

Steenhusien added: “For the first time, voters will know that there is a credible alternative to the ANC — and that it can win.”