Africa Check
No, South Africa doesn’t have world’s 2nd-highest rate of firearm-related deaths
18th August 2021 South Africa has been debating proposed revisions to the primary law that governs who can own guns in the country and how they are used. The... →
Are 20-million black South Africans unemployed, compared to 1.6-million in 1994? Viral graphic gets it wrong
10th August 2021 A graphic widely shared in South Africa appears to lay bare in stark numbers the agony of high unemployment in the country. The graphic, posted... →
South African news website fumbles extent of cancer in Malawi
5th August 2021 A South African news website recently made a startling claim about the burden of cancer in Malawi, while reporting on inexpensive cancer screening... →
100 pupils to a teacher? Fact-checking widely read claims about education in Nigeria
3rd August 2021 In an article about the “menace” of Nigeria’s out-of-school children, columnist Jerome-Mario Utomi made several claims about education in the... →
No, South Africa does not account for ‘50% of global mining deaths’
28th July 2021 “About 50% of global mining deaths occur in South Africa. Yet no single mining executive has been held accountable,” reads a tweet with more than... →
Uhuru Kenyatta: Fact-checking Kenyan president’s claims about his legacy
23rd July 2021 With just over a year left in his presidency, Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta has been highlighting his administration’s achievements since he took office... →
No, 70% of Kenya’s high school students don’t score D+ or lower
22nd July 2021 While debating Kenya’s new curriculum, the director of a local education non-profit made a claim about how many final-year high school students... →
Beware before you share! These #ShutdownSA videos are misleading
14th July 2021 South Africa’s Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces have been rocked by days of looting, protests and violence. The immediate cause was demands that... →
Fact-checked: 9 claims about South African schools from Ernst Roets
30th June 2021 South Africa doesn’t spend enough time discussing the “disastrous state of its education system”, according to AfriForum’s head of policy and... →
No proof Mega Oxygen boosts oxygen levels or cures Covid-19, as viral Facebook video claims
30th June 2021 A video with more than 2-million views on Facebook claims that Mega Oxygen can boost your oxygen levels. It’s the “flagship product” of a company... →
Yes, Kenya’s elephants have increased in last 30 years but only census will plug data gaps
30th June 2021 Kenya is counting its wildlife for the first time to better manage a major tourist attraction and source of income for the country. The census... →
Forty-million Twitter users in Nigeria? How pollster’s flawed figure became fact
28th June 2021 Nigeria has been in the global spotlight after its government indefinitely suspended Twitter in early June. The suspension came days after Twitter... →
World Health Organization not proposing an alcohol ban for ‘women of childbearing age’
25th June 2021 Has the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed that “women of ‘child bearing age’ be banned from drinking alcohol”? That was the claim made by... →
No, your life insurance is not ‘null and void’ if you get a Covid-19 vaccine
18th June 2021 "I hope you are aware that if you get the Covid vaccine, it basically renders your life insurance null and void. Because it is experimental," reads... →
Murder, VIPs and theft: Fact-checking five claims by Gun Owners South Africa
17th June 2021 Proposed changes to the primary law that governs who can own guns in South Africa and how they are used has set off spirited debate, drawing in... →
Is Nigeria’s central bank governor on the money about health insurance and out-of-pocket payments?
10th June 2021 Nigeria’s top banker has urged the government and private players to work together to improve healthcare in the country. Not enough Nigerians are... →
Do ‘over a million’ Africans die in road accidents each year? No, global figure
4th June 2021 Do “over a million Africans die in road accidents every year”? That was the statistic shared by the BBC’s Focus on Africa podcast. “The World... →
Is well-known Nigerian doctor correct about malnutrition in women and children?
18th May 2021 Malnutrition is hurting growth in Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu said at an event focused on nutrition policy.... →
Russian and Chinese Covid-19 jabs better? South Africa’s EFF wrong to compare vaccines
12th May 2021 Countries around the world have been racing to vaccinate their populations against Covid-19. South Africa’s programme started on 17 February 2021.... →
Top official gets it wrong: Kenya nowhere near seventh in world for Covid-19 vaccination
11th May 2021 Amid concerns about vaccine hesitancy in Kenya, on 4 May 2021 the government said it had administered jabs to 887 000 people, two months into its... →
As Twitter opts for Ghana office, Nigeria’s top political parties cast the blame. But did they get it right?
7th May 2021 Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s decision to base his company’s Africa headquarters in Ghana continues to be debated in Nigeria. Twitter said it was... →
No, more than 99% of Nigerian children under 5 don’t die every year
30th April 2021 To mark World Health Day in April 2021, Nigerian non-profit organisation Connected Development made an alarming claim about child mortality. “In... →
Nairobi’s Covid-19 positive cases tie Kenyan president, health ministry and major media house in knots
22nd April 2021 Thousands in Kenya were stranded in April 2021 after the police blocked major roads around the capital Nairobi to enforce a Covid-19 curfew.... →
South Africa the 12th biggest source of greenhouse gases? Yes, but that’s not the only measure that matters
19th April 2021 “South Africa is the world’s 12th-biggest source of greenhouse gases,” Bloomberg Green, the environment section of financial website Bloomberg,... →
No, Kenya’s debt not at ‘100% of GDP’ as economist claimed
13th April 2021 In April 2021 the International Monetary Fund found itself in an online storm as thousands of Kenyans protested a US$2.34-billion loan it had... →
No, 60% of women in Nigeria don’t give birth at traditional attendants’ facilities
1st April 2021 Traditional medicine could improve healthcare in Nigeria, experts told a February 2021 meeting of alternative medicine practitioners. One of them,... →
Does agriculture account for nearly half of Nigeria’s economy and provide a living for ‘90% of rural dwellers’?
26th March 2021 To help leave a legacy in Africa, US president Joe Biden should focus on the continent’s economy, said an online news publication. For Nigeria in... →
Six South African cities in top 20 of world’s ‘most dangerous’? Crime index based on website users’ opinions
24th March 2021 South Africa has a reputation for high rates of crime and violence. And now six of its cities have been named among the most dangerous in the... →
South African MP wrongly claims 70% of informal economy ‘in hands of non-citizens’
16th March 2021 The debate on South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address covered many topics, ranging from gender-based violence to... →
Debating the state of South Africa: did members of parliament get their facts straight?
16th March 2021 “Please keep your masks on and sit in your designated area,” Amos Masondo, chairperson of South Africa’s national council of provinces, told the... →
Catholic doctors in Kenya pushed startling claims about Covid-19. Here’s why they’re wrong
11th March 2021 A day after Kenya took delivery of a million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19, a group of Catholic doctors weighed in. The... →
Three claims about Kenya’s billion dollar debt to China, checked
9th March 2021 The periodical was correct that China was by far Kenya’s largest bilateral creditor, owed nearly five times as much as the next nearest creditor,... →
Yes, malaria kills more kids under five than in any other age group. Here’s why
25th February 2021 The discovery in Africa of a drug-resistant strain of the parasite that causes malaria is a new threat, as the region continues to battle Covid-19.... →
Chickens and the economy: fact-checking Ramaphosa's #SONA2021
18th February 2021 Ramaphosa didn’t shy away from economic realities, correctly claiming the unemployment rate has reached a “staggering” 30.8% and that the economy... →
Highest health spending in Kenya? Baringo county governor makes misleading claims
17th February 2021 In January 2021 Baringo county governor Stanley Kiptis argued against striking health workers’ pay demands. He made three claims. His claim that... →
Is Johannesburg the most radioactive city in the world?
16th February 2021 South African advocacy groups have claimed Johannesburg is the most radioactive city on Earth, because of the mining of uranium-rich gold fields.... →
How many Nigerians abroad? And how much cash do they send home?
10th February 2021 After Nigeria’s central bank announced people receiving money from abroad could be paid in US dollars, the Prompt website published an article on... →
Anatomy of a disinformation campaign: The who, what and why of deliberate falsehoods on Twitter
9th February 2021 In recent years, the UK’s Oxford Internet Institute has tracked the manipulation of public opinion online. Since 2018, South Africa has featured on... →
What’s the harm in a hashtag? Spotting disinformation in the wild
9th February 2021 Unlike the spreaders of misinformation, who don’t mean harm, disinformation actors knowingly cause damage to people, social groups, organisations... →
How to avoid disinformation traps on Twitter
9th February 2021 Bell Pottinger is dead, but disinformation that preys on divisions in South Africa remains. Some say social media users should ignore... →
Taxi industry transports majority of South Africa’s public commuters, but exact number of passengers unclear
3rd February 2021 While definitions of “commuter” vary slightly, the most recent data from Stats SA supports the National Taxi Alliance’s estimate and shows nearly... →
