“Knife attack on a German couple outside a hotel in Cape Town,” reads the caption of a still photo from security footage, posted on Facebook in South Africa.
The date stamp on the image is 27 February 2020.
The post has been flagged as possibly false by Facebook’s fact-checking system. Was there an attempted knife attack on two people from Germany outside a hotel in Cape Town, said to be one of South Africa’s most popular tourist destinations?
The post links to a full video of the incident, also posted on Facebook.
It shows a woman and man walking along the street when they are attacked by two men. One grabs at their pockets. When he is thrown off, a third attacker appears. The woman walks out of frame. The four men fight, one attacker draws a knife, and the fight also quickly disappears from the camera.
Neither Facebook post credits a source for the video. A search for the attack returned news articles quoting a tweet by Yusuf Abramjee, a South African media personality. But Abramjee was not the first to share the video, telling Africa Check he had found it on social media.
We then traced the video on the site SA Uncut. This led us to a post on the Facebook page of Truekrav, a martial arts and self-defence gym based in Cape Town.
Etienne Ferreira, a Truekrav spokesperson, told Africa Check the video was first posted on the gym’s Facebook page. It was sent to him by a person who wanted to remain anonymous, so he couldn’t give us any more information. He was able to tell us the name of the hotel: Cape Town’s 15 on Orange.
The hotel didn’t respond to requests for information.
But Google Street View images of the hotel’s main entrance match the video. The stop street and stop sign visible in the security footage video can be seen clearly, along with the distinctive tiling outside the hotel entrance.
We can’t confirm that the couple in the video were from Germany. We don’t know if they were harmed, or if they left South Africa because of the incident, as some sources claimed.
But it is clear that the attack happened outside Cape Town’s 15 on Orange hotel in February 2020.
The date stamp on the image is 27 February 2020.
The post has been flagged as possibly false by Facebook’s fact-checking system. Was there an attempted knife attack on two people from Germany outside a hotel in Cape Town, said to be one of South Africa’s most popular tourist destinations?
Where did video come from?
The post links to a full video of the incident, also posted on Facebook.
It shows a woman and man walking along the street when they are attacked by two men. One grabs at their pockets. When he is thrown off, a third attacker appears. The woman walks out of frame. The four men fight, one attacker draws a knife, and the fight also quickly disappears from the camera.
Neither Facebook post credits a source for the video. A search for the attack returned news articles quoting a tweet by Yusuf Abramjee, a South African media personality. But Abramjee was not the first to share the video, telling Africa Check he had found it on social media.
Google Street View confirms attack
We then traced the video on the site SA Uncut. This led us to a post on the Facebook page of Truekrav, a martial arts and self-defence gym based in Cape Town.
Etienne Ferreira, a Truekrav spokesperson, told Africa Check the video was first posted on the gym’s Facebook page. It was sent to him by a person who wanted to remain anonymous, so he couldn’t give us any more information. He was able to tell us the name of the hotel: Cape Town’s 15 on Orange.
The hotel didn’t respond to requests for information.
But Google Street View images of the hotel’s main entrance match the video. The stop street and stop sign visible in the security footage video can be seen clearly, along with the distinctive tiling outside the hotel entrance.
We can’t confirm that the couple in the video were from Germany. We don’t know if they were harmed, or if they left South Africa because of the incident, as some sources claimed.
But it is clear that the attack happened outside Cape Town’s 15 on Orange hotel in February 2020.
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You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
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