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Yes, Audi Centre Northcliff has closed down

A graphic shared on Facebook in South Africa says a luxury car dealership in a suburb of Johannesburg has closed down, “thanks to Covid-19”. 

The graphic appears to be a personal message written by someone called Wayne Engelbrecht and includes a photo of a building with a large Audi logo. 

It is undated but the writer says he had to “inform 50 staff members and their families that Audi Centre Northcliff is closing down thanks to Covid-19 at the end of the month”.

It was posted in a message by another Facebook user on 29 August 2020, possibly a former employee at the dealership. But Facebook’s fact-checking system has flagged the graphic as possibly false. 

We investigated. Has Audi Centre Northcliff closed? 



‘We have closed down’


Engelbrecht calls himself a “very sad and heartbroken DP” in the message. 

Another post on the Audi Centre Northcliff Facebook page from 9 June was also credited to him and identifies him as the “dealer principal”.

We contacted Engelbrecht and he confirmed the dealership had closed. 

The Facebook page also says the dealership is permanently closed and its website can no longer be accessed. – Taryn Willows




 

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