The police in Gauteng wished to reassure parents that the news that learners east of Johannesburg were being abducted, was fake.
This follows after news spread on social media that 17 learners were abducted and burned in Katlehong, police spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said.
https://twitter.com/EducationGP/status/1169192962603061250
“This false information is geared at fueling violence and instilling fear among Gauteng communities,” he said.
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#sapsGP Today’s #FakeNews on social media purporting that schools were burning & school children kidnapped in Katlehong is geared to incite violence & instill fear among Gauteng communities. #SAPS can confirm that this is UNTRUE. The ABUSE of social media is condemned. ME
— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) September 4, 2019
“The abuse of social media has since the flare-up of the recent incidents of violence and looting of businesses in some parts of Gauteng, been condemned in the strongest terms as it seeks to undermine the authority of the state.”
Dlamini urged social media users to refrain from circulating fake news.
Lots of fake news being spread. For instance, messages going around about taxi industry and children being kidnapped in Katlehong/Thokoza are false. Police and MECs are on the ground and the province is stable.
— David Makhura (@David_Makhura) September 4, 2019
“They should rather find ways of verifying, like enquiring on the police’s social media platforms,” he said.
In Pretoria, people were also reassured that the news that children were held prisoner inside their classrooms at Hoërskool F.H. Odendaal was not true.
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The school told Rekord that this had not happened while Villieria police spokesperson Captain Coba Brits said that they were not aware of any incidents at the high school.
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