Old Miami Spring Break video linked to false claims about West Africans fighting in France
- Published on September 4, 2024 at 11:51
- 3 min read
- By AFP South Africa
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“Breaking News : Nigerians and Ghanaians prostitutes fighting over a territory control in France (sic),” reads an X post published on August 26, 2024.
The 60-second video it shared shows a fight involving dozens of women tearing each other’s hair and clothing off in the street.
The clip with more than 1,700 reshares was posted by South African X user Kwena Molekwa.
She has amassed a large following for her nationalist content which includes the use of divisive language and calls for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants (archived here).
Molekwa was heavily involved in an online campaign against Chidimma Adetshina’s participation in the Miss South Africa 2024 beauty pageant because of her Nigerian-Mozambican lineage.
X users recently celebrated Molekwa's role in the furore that led to a government investigation into Adetshina’s South African citizenship status, which claimed that her birth certificate was acquired fraudulently (archived here and here).
As AFP reported, Adetshina dropped out of the race and went on to win Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 at the end of August (archived here).
Molekwa’s post about the alleged brawl carries a xenophobic message against West Africans.
Although Nigerian women are indeed being sex-trafficked to France (archived here), the clip shows a fight that broke out at a holiday hotspot in the United States (archived here and here).
Spring Break 2019
A reverse image search of keyframes from the video revealed that the footage dates back to March 2019 and shows a mass brawl during Spring Break in Miami, Florida.
At the time, US media reported on the incident but did not specify the cause of the fight (archived here).
Miami Beach authorities imposed restrictions on Spring Break celebrations after two shootings in 2023 and more than 480 arrests.
Tightened controls included curfews, increased policing and random bag checks.
Africa’s titans
Despite having one of the world's highest unemployment rates, South Africa attracts many economic migrants from elsewhere on the continent (archived here).
The influx, coupled with a dim economic outlook, has led to sporadic bursts of anti-immigrant violence in recent years, as well as increased anti-foreigner sentiment, often directed at Nigerians.
The continent’s heavyweights are often at loggerheads, whether it’s sports such as during the Africa Cup of Nations football semi-finals or competing for international acclaim in music.
AFP Fact Check recently debunked posts which falsely claimed that Nigerian immigrants in South Africa planned to protest if the beauty pageant contestant was disqualified.
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