A fake news report claiming that two people were arrested in Tembisa for being in possession of over 80,000 ballot papers pre-marked in favour of the ANC is being investigated by the SAPS.
Tembisa, South Africa – The South African websites which published the article titled “Two arrested over 80,000 ballot papers already marked as ANC votes” on 1 August are in big trouble.
3 separate Facebook Pages (Gossip Mill Mzanzi, Mzansi Live & African News Updates ) dominated social media space with the fake news story.
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The story, which was shared thousands of times on Facebook cited an unnamed police officer as a source of the news, and little else. The article also attracted the attention of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), which slated the fake report.
“Statements made yesterday on fake news websites which claimed people had been arrested with large quantities of ballot papers already marked for a specific party are a hoax,” said the IEC.
“Despite the photograph of the marked ballots clearly being a national ballot paper for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections, this destructive story spread and was also picked up by some media organisations.”
My BroadBand reported that The Electoral Commission reminded voters and the media that it is an offence in terms of Section 69 of the Municipal Electoral Act for anyone to make intentionally false statements with the intention of disrupting or influencing an election.
“A case has been opened with the SA Police Service to investigate the source of the false reports and for referral for prosecution.”
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