Old clip of clashes used in misleading context ahead of Zimbabwe August 2023 poll

This article is more than one year old.
Published on August 18, 2023 at 17:20
3 min read
By Tendai DUBE, AFP South Africa

A video circulating on social media ahead of Zimbabwe's August 26 election purports to show opposition supporters attacking a rival from the ruling ZANU-PF party. But this is misleading: the video, taken in February 2022, was filmed during a confrontation between members of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and ZANU-PF backers following a campaign rally.

"The President consistently calls for peace," reads a post on X, formerly Twitter. "What’s happening in this video is what he berates against."

The post, dated August 14, 2023, and sent by Zimbabwe's Information Minister Nick Mangwana, adds: "Hoodlums clad in yellow regalia are seen beating up a defenseless individual said to be a Zanu PF supporter in a shameless display of political intolerance (sic)."

A screenshot of the misleading post on X, taken on August 15, 2023

Footage from the video in the post shows a crowd, mostly in yellow, attacking a man wearing a dark green T-shirt. Someone is heard shouting in Shona: "He should be beaten."

Zimbabwe heads to the polls on August 23, 2023, to elect the president and members of the legislature in what analysts expect to be a tense affair, marked by a crackdown on dissent and fears of vote-rigging (archived here).

However, the video is old and does not show a recent example of election-related violence.

Campaign clash

A keyword search on X revealed that the video has been online since at least March 2022, as seen here, and here with more footage of the same incident (archived here and here).

Screenshots of the footage in posts from March 2022

"CCC has stage-managed violence that was witnessed in Kwekwe recently to cast the ruling party in bad light (sic)," claims one post, while another makes a similar claim.

AFP reported on the violence that broke out on February 27, 2022, citing police saying that members of ZANU-PF had dressed in the yellow colours of the opposition CCC ahead of a rally in the central town of Kwekwe.

According to the police statement, the impersonators ambushed a group of actual CCC activists, stabbing one to death.

More than 20 people were injured and several were arrested.

Suspected ZANU-PF attacker confronted by opposition CCC supporters on February 27, 2022 (Zinyange Auntony/AFP).

Pictures taken by AFP photographer Zinyange Auntony show the same man who was assaulted in the videos.

"A man suspected of being a ruling ZANU-PF attacker falls on the ground after being confronted by supporters of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change during an electoral rally on February 27, 2022, at Mbizo shopping centre in Kwekwe," the photo caption reads.

Other matching elements from Auntony’s photos and the videos on social media include the green gate with chipped paint covered with election campaign posters (archived here).

Screenshots showing similarities between one of the videos, left, and an AFP photo

Mangwana’s claim is therefore misleading.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, left, and CCC leader Nelson Chamisa

As reported by AFP, the opposition in Zimbabwe has long complained about being unfairly targeted by authorities in the run-up to the election, with its members arrested and dozens of CCC events blocked.

Zimbabwe's parliament this year approved a controversial law that ostensibly promotes patriotism but has been condemned by the opposition as a "draconian" attempt to stifle dissent ahead of the national elections (archived here).

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