It doesn’t take much for the conspiracy theorists to come out of the woodwork. Fear of the spread of the Corona virus has offered these individuals a ripe breeding ground for the spread of their weird and wonderful ideas across the country.
Add to that, people are just down right mischievous, and suddenly social media abounds with some outrageously irresponsible, false information. So, let’s look at some of the fake news that is making the rounds.
Spreading fake news about the Corona virus is a crime in South Africa. Yet some people are prepared to put themselves at risk. Like the character in our first story
The Coronavirus testing kits are contaminated with the virus
On Sunday night many people received a shared WhatsApp video. It was of a middle-aged man warning South Africans that the Coronavirus testing kits were, in fact, themselves contaminated. He warned citizens not to allow anyone to test them. This was just at a time that the government was rolling out mass testing. Needless to say, this bright spark had his day in court. His case has been postponed.