President Jacob Zuma’s sixth State of the Nation address fact-checked
South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, celebrated his government’s achievements in his sixth State of the Nation address. How did he fare?
checked
Reports: South Africa
downplayed
Deputy president’s speech downplayed the level of child hunger in South Africa
Kgalema Motlanthe has claimed that the percentage of households with children that have gone hungry “at some point” has fallen from “over 25%” in 1994 to 6.5% in 2012. The claim is incorrect.
unproven
Why it is wrong to call S. Africa or any country the ‘rape capital of the world’
Where is the “rape capital of the world”? Is it South Africa or the Democratic Republic of Congo? What does the phrase even mean? A reader asked us to investigate the claims.
checked
False claims and inaccuracies call SA provincial Premier’s CV into question
An official curriculum vitae for Thandi Modise, the controversial Premier of South Africa’s North West province, contains a number of false claims and glaring factual inaccuracies, Africa Check has discovered.
misleading
Claim that you don’t need pills to treat depression is misleading
You don’t need pills to treat depression. That is the startling claim made recently in the lifestyle section of a prominent South African news website and at least two weekend newspapers. But the claim is a gross simplification of a complex issue.
misleading
Why the matric pass rate is not a reliable benchmark of education quality
Jacob Zuma has hailed the matric pass rate as a “significant improvement”. But is the education system “on the right track”? As we discovered, matric results are not a reliable barometer of education quality.
checked
A year in review: truth and lies in 2013
Time to look back at some of the reports we published this year as we sifted fact from fiction, debunked urban myths, exposed dodgy data, investigated promises and claims by politicians and presidents and highlighted factual inaccuracies in media reports.
incorrect
Did the Mandela movie ‘sustain’ 12,000 jobs over two years? The claim is false
South Africa’s National Empowerment Fund says that 12,000 jobs were “sustained” over two years during the production of the film, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. But the claim is false.
checked
Is SA worse off now than 19 years ago? The facts behind THAT Facebook post
A Facebook post that went viral in 2013 made a series of claims about how South Africa has changed since 1994. Africa Check tested the evidence.
incorrect
Do 80% of S. Africans regularly consult traditional healers? The claim is unproven
Do 80% of South Africans regularly consult traditional healers? Do most black South Africans choose traditional healers over medical doctors and primary healthcare facilities? The claims are false. And as we discovered, with a little sleuthing, they stem from a book published thirty years ago.