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Videos of ballot boxes, made-up poll graphics and claims of vote rigging spread across TikTok, X and Facebook as the Electoral Commission counts ballots from the local government elections held on Wednesday.
The commission says 35% of result slips from the 23 000 voting stations had been captured into the system by Thursday morning, with 18 municipalities finishing the full count. But social media users shared misleading posts faster than the actual results came in.
A TikTok video posted earlier this week for example, showed IEC officials in Rustenburg carrying a ballot box. The post claimed something suspicious was happening at Ward 19. Africa Check investigated and found the sealed box was labelled for home visits during special voting, and officials were simply returning it to the station after helping voters who cannot leave their homes.
Other false claims this week included a fake poll showing the ANC with 43% support in Tshwane, posts about a fake ANC R300 giveaway, and warnings that asylum seekers were voting despite only citizens being allowed to vote.
Videos taken out of context
Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo says some political parties made unproven claims of election fraud, which led supporters to film presiding officers doing routine work and post the videos with accusations.
“We identified increasing attempts to undermine confidence in the electoral process through social media,” he said.
The videos showed staff transferring special vote ballots after home visits or carrying boxes into voting stations – all standard procedures that were presented as evidence of wrongdoing.
The commission received 34 formal complaints about misinformation by Monday, with most false claims spreading on X (59%), TikTok (24%) and Facebook and WhatsApp (9% each).
AI-generated content poses threat
The IEC flagged several cases involving artificial intelligence tools. In August, an ANC mayoral candidate shared an AI deepfake video claiming to show a DA tender plot. ActionSA also laid charges against an ANC councillor who allegedly used AI to create fake WhatsApp chats showing Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya discussing corruption with a contractor.
Research shows only 50% of South African voters feel confident they can spot fake news, and just 18% of social media users check information before sharing it.
Legal consequences for spreading lies
The commission gazetted a disinformation code in September that forces political parties to check facts before posting and gives them 36 hours to publicly correct false claims once they know the truth.
Breaking these rules or publishing false information to influence the election can result in a fine or up to ten years in prison under the Local Government Municipal Electoral Act.
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How to report fake news
The commission urges voters not to share videos or claims without checking the full context first. Citizens can report suspected fake content at real411.org.za.
Real411 is the official online platform where the public can report election misinformation, hate speech and harassment. The system is run by Moxii Africa, a civil society group formerly known as Media Monitoring Africa, and handles complaints in all 11 official languages. The IEC reviews each complaint and can order corrections, refer content to social media platforms for removal, or take cases to the Electoral Court. Since September, Real411 logged more than 700 complaints about election lies.
The IEC also signed agreements with Google, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok in October to remove or limit harmful content quickly when the commission flags it.
Official results appear on the IEC website. The commission has until Wednesday 11 November to declare final results unless the Electoral Court grants an extension.
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