By Nicole Tau
A viral social media post claiming Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa called South Africans “soft” and stated Zimbabweans will “keep breaking their laws” is FALSE.
The quote, presented as a breaking news X post from South African broadcaster eNCA, is a piece of recycled disinformation that was first debunked by fact-checkers in 2022.
The fabricated image, shared in a South African Facebook group on August 20, 2025, gained significant traction, fanning the flames of an already tense public debate around immigration.
The post features a screenshot of a tweet with the text: “BREAKING NEWS… Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa breaks his silence ‘South Africans are soft hence Zimbabweans will keep breaking their laws.’ illegal foreigners are criminals and must be arrested, he adds.”
This incendiary claim is designed to provoke outrage and validate anti-immigrant sentiment, posing a real-world risk of fueling xenophobic violence.
The claim’s plausibility hinges on the ongoing, and often fraught, relationship between South Africa and Zimbabwe concerning cross-border migration and crime. By packaging the inflammatory quote with the branding of a trusted news source like eNCA, the creators gave it a veneer of authenticity that preys on existing social tensions and prejudices.
CheckDesk contacted the news organization being impersonated directly. Luntu Lamani, a Duty Editor at eNCA, confirmed that the claim and the tweet are fake.
“I can confirm this is fake news. We have never published such content,” Lamani stated. “That is not our account, the logo gives it away.”
Furthermore, this piece of disinformation has a documented history. The exact fabricated tweet was investigated and proven false by FactCheckZW in 2022. Their investigation found that the tweet does not exist on eNCA’s official Twitter (now X) feed. A search of the news channel’s archives also revealed that they did not publish such a post.
Additionally, President Mnangagwa has never made such a statement to any media house. In fact, his government’s official stance contradicts the fake quote. Zimbabwe’s Information Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, previously expressed concern over “malicious reports… depicting Zimbabweans as the chief perpetrators of crime in South Africa” and affirmed the government’s commitment to protecting its citizens abroad (FactCheckZW, 2022).
The image, which shows a screenshot with the eNCA logo and handle, also contains incorrect punctuation, lacks a timestamp or a link to a news article, which are standard on X posts and are typical for legitimate breaking news tweets. The text also appears slightly misaligned or cropped, which might suggest manipulation.
Fabricated tweet vs Legitimate tweet
This piece of disinformation is a “zombie claim”, a falsehood repeatedly debunked but continually revived to stir up social discord. The real-world impact of such a fabrication is severe, as it can incite hatred and violence against Zimbabwean nationals in South Africa and damage diplomatic relations.
Readers are urged to be highly skeptical of inflammatory quotes presented in unlinked screenshots. Before sharing, always verify the information by checking the official social media accounts of the news organization and the public figure in question.
This fact-check was produced by Nicole Tau, CheckDesk, MISA Lesotho, 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. 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/
