Fake video spreads false claims about Nathi Mthethwa’s death
A viral video claiming to show the last moments of Nathi Mthethwa’s life is fake. Here’s what the investigation actually found about the clip.
A Facebook post showing photos of Nathi Mthethwa, the late South African ambassador to France, alongside an image of a person appearing to fall from a building, has been circulating online.
The post claims to share “original footage” of Mthethwa’s fatal fall in Paris and includes a link to a supposed video of the incident.
This content has been reshared on multiple Facebook pages and has gained hundreds of thousands of views, giving the impression that genuine footage of the tragedy exists.
What are the verified details of Mthethwa’s death?
In September, ECR NewsWatch reported that Nathi Mthethwa had died after falling from a hotel in Paris, France. French authorities launched an investigation into the circumstances of his death.
Is the video real?
According to Africa Check, the images included in the Facebook post are not linked to Mthethwa’s death. The link in the post does not lead to a real video of the incident. Instead, users are redirected to a suspicious website filled with pop-up advertisements.
Where did the footage originate?
A reverse image search of the video’s thumbnail revealed that it first appeared in 2019 in reports about an unrelated incident in Qinyang, Henan province, China. At the time, a 19-year-old student had fallen to his death from a high-rise building after part of the roof collapsed.
To keep your information safe online, it is imperative to verify the origins of videos and images before sharing them and to rely on official or established media outlets for factual updates.
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