S.African TV drama footage does not show 'Ethiopian soldiers burning Oromo people to death'
- Published on July 6, 2026 at 11:55
- 3 min read
- By Tolera FIKRU GEMTA, AFP Ethiopia
The south-eastern part of Ethiopia’s Oromia region saw an explosion of violence in June, leading to the deaths of at least 11 people and widespread burning of homes. A video viewed tens of thousands of times on Facebook following the incident falsely purported to show government troops burning unidentified Oromo people to death in the region. However, the footage comes from a popular South African TV drama series and does not depict real events.
The post in Afaan Oromoo shared on June 24, 2026, reads: “We were not burned alive even during the era of Menelik; yet today, under Abiy Ahmed's government, Oromos are being burned to death.”
Menelik was a controversial former Ethiopian emperor, while Abiy Ahmed is the current Ethiopian Prime Minister who comes from Oromia.
In the 15-second clip filmed at night, a large fire appears to consume an individual who is heard screaming in agony. Another man walks away from the fire before stopping to watch the purported victim’s painful death.
The same video was also viewed more than 76,000 times here.
Armed conflict
Following Abiy’s rise to power in 2018, Oromia -- the country’s most populous region -- has experienced armed conflict between government forces and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). Despite several peace initiatives, hostilities have persisted in parts of the region (archived here).
In early June 2026, civilians in the Arsi zone in Oromia were attacked by armed groups. In statement issued on June 5, 2026, the Ethiopian office of the prime minister blamed the OLA, which denied the allegation and accused the government of instigating intercommunal violence (archived here).
The attacks resulted in multiple killings, injuries, the displacement of thousands of residents, and the widespread destruction of property, including the burning of numerous homes and at least one church (archived here).
However, the purported immolation clip does not depict a real event.
Television series
AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches on the video's keyframes and found a longer version published on May 19, 2026, on the Facebook page of SABC1, one of the state-owned South African Broadcasting Corporation's channels.
The original footage was part of a 39-second promotional clip for a show called “Uzalo”.
“Nkazimulo’s wildest fear sends him on a wild goose chase,” read the caption with the post, published on May 19, 2026. This was followed by an announcement to watch Uzalo on weekdays at 8.30pm on SABC1 and SABC Plus.
Uzalo is a popular South African television drama series broadcast on SABC1. The broadcaster regularly releases trailers and promotional previews highlighting scenes from upcoming episodes (archived here).
The original footage depicts an individual engulfed in flames, screaming in agony while another man, holding a lit match, watches him burn. It then cuts to a scene showing a man suddenly waking up, jumping out of bed, and searching for his pistol in apparent self-defence.
Content warning
The character experiencing the nightmare is Nkazimulo, who dreams that another character, Nkunzi, takes him into the bush and sets him on fire. The sequence clearly reveals that the burning incident is part of a nightmare rather than a real event.
The false clip consists only of the first 15 seconds of the original footage and omits the subsequent scenes that reveal the incident to be a dream from the television drama rather than a real-life murder.
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