Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Fake News Fuels Xenophobic Tensions in South Africa
Daniel Mumbere
AFP 
06/09 - 05:00

The international fallout from this week’s deadly riots and xenophobic attacks in South Africa continues, as African countries sending out strong messages protesting the treatment of their citizens.

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday pledged to tackle the issue with the seriousness it deserves, saying his country values its relations with the rest of the continent.

“Our country has been deeply traumatised …by acts of violence and criminality,” he said in a televised address. “There can be no excuse for attacks on homes and businesses of foreign nationals … (or) xenophobia.”

There can be no excuse for attacks on homes and businesses of foreign nationals.

While Ramaphosa confirmed that at least ten people had been killed during the past week, of whom two were foreigners, social media has been awash with stories of higher death tolls and gruesome accounts of the violence in the country.

In this story, we highlight the misleading and untrue stories that are being shared on several social media platforms.

Claim: Foreigners had to jump out of a building in Johannesburg, after it was set on fire by South Africans.
Fact: The video was not filmed in South Africa at all, but in India. It shows a horrific fire in the western Indian city of Surat, which killed 20 teenagers last May.

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