Countering election disinformation: News24 exposes disinformation about South Africa's general elections. (News24)
News24 Disinformation Desk We are monitoring false claims about elections and political parties. Here are some fact-checks on the main election disinformation spreading online.
Follow Live | Debunking and fact-checking: News24 helps make sense of election information and disinformation
FACT CHECK | Will the election be extended?
Earlier, EFF leader Julius Malema made unsubstantiated claims that the IEC was considering extending the election by a day “where voter rigging would take place”.
According to the election law, the president must consult with the Election Commission before setting a date for national elections.
Only one day or date can be set as the voting day.
However, the law allows the commission to extend polling hours at polling stations until midnight on May 29 if necessary.
The polling stations will close at 9pm. Anyone who is in line at 9pm will be able to vote. However, you will not be able to queue after 9pm.
When asked for comment, the IEC said it “does not wish to comment on the allegations.”
Later, at a 7pm press conference, IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said it would be difficult to extend the voting date.
He said that could pose a risk in terms of what to do with the votes that have already been cast. He said that's why the committee intends to finish the vote on the same day, and stressed that the committee does not intend to hold a second election.
Verdict: No evidence found
– Naila Ebrahim
Fact Check | Increase in posts making false claims about MK Party's performance in elections
Online posts about the MK Party make false claims about the party's electoral performance.
At 15:51 on 29 May, a One X post by @Gentlements used a graph falsely attributed to eNCA to claim the party had won 66% of the vote in KwaZulu-Natal.
The post currently has almost 300 likes and over 16,000 views.
Previously, we also covered a video of an eNCA segment on May 9th about pre-election polling data that was used to falsely claim that the MK Party had won 68% of the overseas vote. The video also showed an eNCA graph sharing data on 2024 voters changing their vote.
Various users across different platforms have used this screenshot to claim that it is overseas voting data.
In its polling data, eNCA showed that 68% of MK supporters switched their vote to the party.
The final election results are due to be announced on June 2nd.
Read | Fact check: Blackouts, #donstealmyvote, and line-skipping: election claims to watch out for
Verdict: False alarm
– Joel Ontong
Fact Check | If VMD was offline, will my vote be counted?
Questions from readers: “I [vote] It all had to be done offline and manually. Are those votes going to be counted?”
We responded: Votes are recorded manually and no voter management devices are required.
South African votes are recorded manually and are not subject to offline vote management devices (VMDs).
“In the event that there was a problem with the voter management device, instructions were given to go ahead with the vote based on the manual voter roll,” Deputy Electoral Commissioner Masego Chebuli told reporters at the National Results Centre on Wednesday afternoon.
He further explained that the manual voting process is required by law and that the Voting Management Devices (VMDs) are being used to streamline the process.
Chebli said the integrity of the vote would not be affected if VMDs were not used.
– Nayla Ebrahim and Jan Gerber
Election results will be released only after voting has closed
The results of the election will not be known until the polls close at 9pm on Election Day.
Multiple posts identified on X claim victory for various political parties.
In a post, X-user @ChrisEcxel102 claimed that the ANC would win the national elections based on IEC data showing that the party has already won 70.33% of the votes counted by the IEC.
However, News24 has confirmed that the data used related to the Madibeng Local Government by-election in the North West, which took place on May 15, 2024.
Election results will begin to emerge little by little after polls close at 9pm, with final election results due to be announced on June 2nd.
Verdict: Fake News
– Naila Ebrahim
Land Party leader stirs fears with unfounded allegations of Kirill's assassination
Land Party leader Ngcobani Ndzongana has published unfounded theories questioning the possible assassination of President Cyril Ramaphosa, causing unnecessary anxiety ahead of elections.
“teeth [Cyril Ramaphosa] Who is next on the Mossad assassination list?,” Ndzongana asked in X.
real411 called the post “carefully crafted fear mongering.”
As there is no evidence that such an incident could occur, this post has been classified as misinformation.
Verdict: False alarm
– Joel Ontong
