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No, fake photo doesn’t show South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa ‘dancing like nyaope boys’

An image circulating on Facebook in South Africa claims to show the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, “dancing like nyaope boys on the floor”. Nyaope is a cheap and addictive designer drug unique to South Africa.

In the image the president is lying on his back, smiling and with his hands raised, while a woman dances above him.



One post of the image has been shared over 3,000 times. The user comments: “The whole State President Mr #CyrilRamaphosa DANCING like Nyaope Boys on the floor, no wonder we are just a laughing stock by other countries, this Thuma Mina is just a Nonsense, jerrrrrrrrrr...!!”
 

Ramaphosa on election drive in Khayelitsha


But the image is fake and is a composite of two different events

It’s a photoshopped version of a photo taken by South African photographer Rodger Bosch. The original, snapped on 27 February 2019, shows Ramaphosa testing a bed made by informal artisans in Khayelitsha, a large township near Cape Town.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ramaphosa was on a campaign drive for the ruling African National Congress ahead of national elections set for 8 May.

The image of the woman used in the fake photo seems to have been taken from a YouTube video titled Woman Twerking by the Cakes at Wal-Mart, uploaded in 2013.

Jacob Zuma was also given the same treatment when a widely shared photo of the former president dancing rather intimately with singer Babes Wodumo went viral in 2016.

As the elections draw closer, false news about candidates is likely to rise on social media. To help you navigate these waters read this handy guide on how you can verify images - right from your smartphone. – Mary Alexander (26/03/19)
 


 

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