National Treasury warns of fake news sites

“In the past two days, the National Treasury media monitoring team has picked up that, whilst the already exposed fake news sites are being taken down, new fake news sites have arisen,” spokesperson Yolisa Tyantsi said.

The “news” contained allegations that had not been interrogated or verified.

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Treasury said it viewed this as another nefarious attempt to distract it from preparations for this year’s budget speech.

“As South Africans are waiting in anticipation on what the coming budget holds for them, National Treasury commits not to lose focus from its work and is steadfast in presenting a budget which promotes inclusive economic growth.”

South Africa had seen a sharp rise in the number of fake news websites in the last year. They carry stories ranging from humorous, sensational, and biased, to just plain propaganda.

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Were these sites to be believed, former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela would have been shot nine times, thousands of ballot papers marked with ANC votes would have been found during elections, and the DA would have cut free township Wi-Fi in Nelson Mandela Bay.

The ANC Women’s League was also duped into denying a www.eyenews.co.za article about its president, Bathabile Dlamini, lobbying to replace Jacob Zuma as ANC leader.

These stories are just a few which have gone viral, as Facebook users share the links to them.