There are 15 million undocumented foreigners in South Africa
Source: South African politician and businessman Herman Mashaba (November 2020)
Data from Statistics South Africa and the United Nations put the number of foreign-born migrants in the country at around 4 million.
There are approximately 48,000 potholes across Johannesburg
Source: Moneyweb article (November 2020)
The city government estimates there are 100,000 potholes, and the roads agency planned to fix nearly 141,000 in 2019/20.
Eight claims ranging from school books and land to the business climate, household electricity and regional exports.
Source: President Uhuru Kenyatta (November 2020)
Three correct, three mostly correct, one unproven, one incorrect.
Four claims about national healthcare and education funding in Nigeria, and the cost of the country’s national assembly
Source: Social media graphic (October 2020)
Two incorrect, two understated
Kenya’s last recession was recorded in 1992.
Source: Citizen TV website (October 2020)
Kenya’s most recent recession was in 2002, according to official data.
Trade between Africa and China has grown rapidly, reaching US$166 billion in 2011.
Source: Mail & Guardian newspaper (19 October 2020)
Available data confirms the trade figure quoted by the Mail & Guardian. Trade between Africa and China had grown by at least another US$20 billion by 2018, while US trade with the continent decreased.
Nearly 7,500 children under the age of five die annually in South Africa as a direct result of hunger.
Source: Daily Maverick (18 September 2020)
According to the latest official figures, just over 800 children under the age of five die annually in South Africa from severe acute malnutrition. While the real number is likely to be higher, no available data shows by how much.
The number of commercial farmers in South Africa has fallen from 120,000 to 38,000.
Source: Dianne Kohler Barnard, Democratic Alliance member of parliament (1 September 2020)
There is no data on the number of individual farmers in the country. Figures from Stats SA are of the number of commercial farming units, and the definition of a unit has changed since the early 1990s.
Eight claims about Nigeria’s population, economy and history
Source: President Muhammadu Buhari, independence day speech (1 October 2020)
Five correct, two unproven and one misleading
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in South Africa after HIV/Aids.
Source: The South African Heart Association (29 September 2020)
World Health Organization data shows that infectious and parasitic diseases were the leading cause of death. HIV/Aids accounted for the majority of those deaths. Cardiovascular diseases were ranked second.