Back to Africa Check

Highway interchange in Kenya? No, road network in Durban, South Africa

Kenya had 161,400 kilometres of road as of 2017, according to the 2018 economic survey. Earth and gravel road makes up 140,800 kilometres, and 20,600 kilometres are bitumen. (Note: Africa Check has for months tried to verify the country’s roads data to little avail).

The report says dozens of other road projects are in progress, including interchanges.

One Facebook user posted a photo of a seemingly complete and complex interchange. He captioned the photo: “Nyongo has transformned ksm [governor Peter Anyang’ Nyongo has transformed Kisumu county].

The post attracted about 250 reactions, over 70 comments and 11 shares. But many of those who commented doubted if the interchange was in Kisumu, or even Kenya.

Another Facebook user credited the “development” to Siaya county governor Cornel Rasanga. “Siaya - Bondo - Ugunja interchange. Governor Rasanga is overworking!” he posted on his timeline.



Photo of Mount Edgecombe interchange in Durban

But a reverse image search reveals that the interchange isn’t in Kenya.

According to a November 2018 article in Business Insider South Africa, the structure in the photo is the Mount Edgecombe highway interchange in Durban, South Africa.

South Africa’s department of transport tweeted that it was “more than a masterpiece of architecture”. It was officially opened by transport minister Bonginkosi Nzimande in October 2018.

During the upgrade of the interchange, the agency used its YouTube channel to update road users on its progress. Similar photos were posted during its official launch.

Satellites.pro and Google Maps can correctly pinpoint its location. – Dancan Bwire (28/05/19)

Republish our content for free

Please complete this form to receive the HTML sharing code.

For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false

A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?

Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.

Publishers guide

Africa Check teams up with Facebook

Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.

The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.

You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
limit: 600 characters

Want to keep reading our fact-checks?

We will never charge you for verified, reliable information. Help us keep it that way by supporting our work.

Become a newsletter subscriber

Support independent fact-checking in Africa.