Afrigather Cape City — A theft at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm within the province of Limpopo made headlines in June, 2022 when it was revealed that over U.S.$4 million was stolen from the property. Ramaphosa denied any criminality regarding the fortune and complied with the investigation that followed. “President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledges that whereas there may be a lot public curiosity and concern about claims made in a legal grievance towards him, he stays firmly centered on the duty of rebuilding the economic system and the nation,” spokesperson Vincent Magwenya stated on the time.
In accordance with The Namibian, former South African spy boss and prisons head Arthur Fraser accused Namibian President Hage Geingob and Ramaphosa of a high-level cover-up in concealing the theft. Geinbob claimed he was “confused” over the allegations. In accordance with Fraser, Ramaphosa requested Geingob to assist discover the suspects in Namibia utilizing unofficial channels. “President [Ramaphosa] sought the help of the president of Namibia, Hage Geingob, in apprehending the suspects in Namibia,” Fraser stated.
Public curiosity prompted a lot social media dialogue across the heist and shaped the idea for a report by the Heart for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC). It discovered that suspicious on-line behaviour was behind a deliberate effort to control the narrative across the theft. A key discovering was that {that a} group of Twitter customers had been unusually energetic of their use of the #PhalaPlalaFarmGate hashtag. Moreover, these accounts solely accounted for 0.2% of customers engaged within the subject however contributed 20% of posts regarding it.
The report echoes related findings made by the Institute for Safety Research on how disinformation via social media may be used to manipulate citizens for political purposes. That is in distinction to misinformation, the place incorrect info is unfold quickly amongst on-line customers who have not verified the information and was typically discovered to have occurred through the Covid-19 pandemic, according to The Conversation.
The CABC investigation analysed patterns of on-line engagements on social media platforms between June 1, 2022 and September 15, 2022. The report discovered that a number of the Twitter accounts concerned had been additionally encountered by the CABC when investigating the July 2021 unrest. This “community”, the organisation stated, is concentrated on manufacturing on-line dissent in addition to stoking resentment towards President Ramaphosa.
