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Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
South Africa’s police commander for Limpopo province, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has dismissed as false claims on some social media platforms that migrants (foreign nationals) are allegedly working with South Africans in the province to kill people for their body parts.
According to the claims, there are organised criminals stealing vehicles and approaching houses, pretending to seek help.
As soon as they gain entry into the houses, they then kill the occupants by removing their body parts while they are still alive.
In a statement on Thursday, Lt Hadebe condemned the spreading of fake news.
“One of our biggest threats at the moment is fake news,” she said.
“We strongly condemn the spreading of fake news, unverified information, rumours’ or threats as this seeks to cause panic and confusion, and in some instances incite possible violence. We urge the members of the public to fact-check first before sharing anything on social media platforms”.
Lt Hadebe said the police will arrest those who will be found sharing inflammatory messages.
She urged members of the public to promptly report such incidents were people spread false or fake news to ensure that law enforcement deals with the culprits.
Of late there has been an upsurge of false information being shared in various media platforms in South Africa to the effect that foreign nationals are responsible for unending crime in the neighbouring country.
According to the World Population Review in 2024, South Africa was ranked the fifth country with the highest crime rate index of 75.5 per 100 000 people.
It experiences high rates of violent crimes including assaults, rape and murder.
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