Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
NewsbriefSouth Africa, briefly.
JoburgJHB29°16°CTCT30°17°PretoriaPTA31°17°DurbanDBN27°64%

False election claims spread online as South Africans vote

Published

Ongoing: Elections Hot

Debunked posts on X, TikTok and Facebook claim ballot theft, vote rigging and a fake ANC R300 giveaway during the local municipal election on Wednesday. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says routine procedures are being shown as fraud.

Other false posts say asylum seekers and undocumented foreign nationals are being registered to vote. A fake poll graphic claimed the ANC had 43% support in Tshwane and said President Cyril Ramaphosa promised to protect ANC members from corruption charges. Africa Check found that claim to be fabricated.

A widely shared video showed a ballot box in Rustenburg. Africa Check investigated it and found the box was sealed and labelled as a home-visit ballot box.

The IEC said ordinary steps, such as video of staff returning and checking special-vote materials, are presented as proof of fraud. It said these unproven fraud claims undermine confidence in the election. The IEC also reported some genuine election-related offences, including arrests. Reports said it received more than 700 disinformation complaints.

Key facts

Who
Electoral Commission of South Africa (election body that has warned about misinformation and reported arrests and…); Africa Check (fact-checking organisation that investigated the claims and found them false); Cyril Ramaphosa (President, named in a fabricated poll graphic)
What
The article reports debunked claims circulating on X, TikTok and Facebook about IEC ballot handling, vote rigging, asylum seekers voting, a fake ANC R300 giveaway and fabricated opinion polls. The IEC has warned that routine procedures are being presented as fraud and has reported some genuine election-related offences, including arrests.
When
4 November 2026
Where
South Africa, Rustenburg, Tshwane
Status
Reported

Related stories

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

  1. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll
  2. IEC says local election voting went largely smoothly
  3. IEC says about 12 million had voted by 5pm

See every update

US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update

AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

See every update