The lights will be on in South Africa tomorrow
"The message is nonsense"
A mere two weeks after a WhatsApp about children being abducted caused mass hysteria, another hoax message, this time about a nationwide power outage, is being circulated.
The message reads as follows: “Please note that there won’t be any electricity tomorrow (15 June) from 6am to 12noon throughout the whole of South Africa. Please pass on the message and make everyone aware.”
Read more: Fear mongering social media post a hoax
The message has sparked a lot of panic, and the Record contacted City Power to establish whether there is any truth in it.
“This is not true and people should dismiss it as nonsense.
Eskom has not even indicated that loadshedding – which is a controlled event as per area where demand exceeds supply – will be happening. Any outages experienced by City of Johannesburg residents, will either be planned (of which notice is given) or unplanned (due to network overload or cable theft),” said Virgil James, the spokesperson for City Power.
People are reminded to make sure of their facts before reposting or sharing any messages, as the majority of these messages are fake news. Rather than believing everything sent to you via WhatsApp, you should do some research by visiting the websites of reputable news sources.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
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