By Lekhetho Ntsukunyane
An article making rounds on social media, particularly on WhatsApp, alleging Prime Minister Sam Matekane held a one-on-one interview with Lesotho Television’s Rapitso Rapitso is a hoax.
Titled ‘Sam Matekane shocked Lesotho with the statement,’ the article claims the PM introduced Basotho to a new way of making extra income from the comfort of their couches.
The publication further alleges that during a live broadcast of Thahameso television programme, a Lesotho Television morning show hosted by Rapitso, “a serious scandal broke out between the host Rapitso Rapitso and the guest Sam Matekane.”
The publication claims that during a ‘heated discussion,’ Rapitso questioned the truthfulness of Matekane’s words, labelling the PM “a liar right in front of thousands of live viewers.” Following the supposed altercation, the publication claims that the management of Lesotho Television removed the interview from air. The publication uses real pictures of Rapitso and Matekane.
In the supposed interview, the PM was quoted saying that people “do not have to work in order to have money.”
However, MISA Lesotho’s CheckDesk established that the interview between Rapitso and the PM never took place.
The interview appears to have been written by Rapitso and published on Usefulbanjo.com, which was flagged as suspicious on the Google Chrome browser. The site was also flagged as a phishing link on VirusTotal.
Moreover, while the article claims to have been authored by Rapitso, it is highly unusual as he is primarily known as a broadcast journalist for the state-owned Lesotho Television.
To further verify the article’s legitimacy, the Check Desk contacted Rapitso who disowned the article. “I suspect this article was created using AI,” said Rapitso, who recounted his surprise when first saw the article.
“The article bore my name on the byline, yet I know for certain that I have never penned anything like that. I am not a print journalist,” Rapitso said.
The article also quotes Matekane saying he laughs on the faces of people who tell him that he is lucky (to be rich), “because today there’s everything on the internet that makes it easy to get rich without getting off the couch.”
However, Matekane is a business mogul, widely considered Lesotho’s richest man, who only ventured into politics when he formed a political party in 2022, just a few months ahead of the country’s National Assembly Elections in September 2022.
In a similar tone, Thapelo Mabote, the Prime Minister’s Press Attache, dismissed the publication as a fabrication when contacted for verification of the claim.
“We have since noticed a series of such publications making rounds, particularly on Facebook. They are all hoaxes. If the PM makes news, it is only normal that such news is based on national development and not about his personal gains. Such news will have to be published on local media houses that are credible. Basotho should not believe everything that they see on the internet. Some of these sources are not credible,” stated Mabote.
The government of Lesotho also cautioned Basotho against videos of the King and the Prime Minister promoting investment opportunities.
This fact-check was produced by Lekhetho Ntsukunyane, MISA Lesotho Check-Desk, as part of the African Fact-Checking Alliance’s (AFCA) incubation programme. It was produced with peer-mentorship from Code for Africa’s fact checking initiative, PesaCheck, with financial support from Norway Democracy. AFCA mentorship respects the journalistic independence of the researchers, offering access to advanced techniques and tools. Editorial decision-making remains with MISA Lesotho. Want to learn more? Visit: https://factcheck.africa/
