Probe into George building collapse complete, findings to be shared with victims' families
Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson said those responsible for the disaster would be held accountable.
After studying a report on the collapse of a five-storey residential property development in George, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson will share the findings with the families of the victims.
The report, compiled by the Council for the Built Environment, comes more than a year after the collapse of the residential property development in George caused the deaths of 34 people and injured 28.
'As the department, we will now carefully study the report to develop a pathway forward to ensure that a tragedy such as the George building collapse never happens again,' said Macpherson in a statement.
'As I have previously committed, after studying the report, I will personally return to George to present the findings of this report to the families affected by this tragedy. They deserve to hear directly from us, not through the media, about what went wrong and how we intend to rectify it.'
Macpherson's spokesperson, James de Villiers, said a final date had not yet been set by the minister to visit the families.
It is also unclear whether the findings of the report will be made public.
'This will be decided after having spoken to the families,' said De Villiers.
The collapse of the five-storey development, known as 75 Victoria, in May 2024, was followed by a recovery effort that lasted for several days. Twenty-eight survivors were eventually recovered from the rubble.
The contractor for the development was Liatel Developments, under director Theuns Kruger, Daily Maverick reported.
Macpherson said the completion of the report 'marks a critical step in the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure's commitment to uncover the truth behind this preventable disaster and to ensure that those responsible are held accountable'.
He said the collapse of the building was 'the result of systemic failures across regulatory bodies and a lack of cooperation among key stakeholders'. He added that the department would continue to work with the South African Police Service, the National Prosecuting Authority and other regulatory bodies to 'ensure accountability'.
'As I have said before, the collapse of the George building was entirely preventable, and we will therefore work towards accountability and address any errors which may have been identified. By working together, we are ensuring a safe and secure construction sector for all stakeholders,' said Macpherson.
The report is one of several commissioned by various stakeholders into the collapse.
In April, the National Home Builders Registration Council's (NHBRC's) investigation into the collapse of the building revealed that there were several breaches in occupational health and safety standards at the construction site, Daily Maverick's Tamsin Metelerkamp reported.
The NHBRC is a regulatory body of the home building industry, with a mandate to protect the interests of housing consumers and to ensure that builders comply with the prescribed building standards.
Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane said the violations identified in the NHBRC's report included a failure to address safety concerns at the site, as well as the resignation of a safety consultant during the building process. DM
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Daily Maverick
11 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
SAPS and FBI investigate child sexual abuse by secretive Two by Twos Christian cult
A secretive church known as the Two by Twos, also referred to as the 2x2s, has been rocked by widespread allegations of child sexual assault taking place globally over decades. A secretive fundamentalist Christian sect — widely known as the Two by Twos (2x2s), but also as the No-Name Church, The Truth, or The Way — has been rocked by an international child sexual abuse and rape scandal. A Daily Maverick investigation has found church members who reported cases of abuse in South Africa too. One of the alleged South African perpetrators in the abuse scandal, a 'worker' in the church, is still a free man — but the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and South African Police Service (SAPS) are closing in. SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk confirmed this week that a historic sexual abuse case was being investigated by the police's Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal. According to Van Wyk, it is alleged that 'the victim, now 51 years old, was sexually abused in 1983 around the age of nine by an alleged 'pastor' from the 2x2s church'. The victim told Daily Maverick that they were interviewed by the FBI, which is conducting a global investigation into abuses by the 2x2s church. The alleged perpetrator's identity is known to 'overseers' — a term used for the sect's leadership. The identity of the alleged perpetrator, Worker A, is also known to Daily Maverick. Men in the church are referred to as 'workers' or 'brothers', and there are also 'friends' of the fellowship. Because of the secretive nature of the sect, as well as its lack of infrastructure and leadership hierarchy, membership figures of the Two by Twos are difficult to come by. However, according to the BBC, which investigated sexual abuse into the church, the membership is estimated t0 be 100,000, mostly in North America, Australia and New Zealand. Numbers in South Africa are also difficult to confirm, but Leon Van Niekerk, a church member, estimated local membership to be between 20,000 and 50,000. The SA fallout and what preceded it The wide-ranging international investigation reached South African shores in 2023 when Van Niekerk, a member of the sect, reported the alleged child rape by the leading 'worker' in South Africa that had taken place at a church convention held in 1983. Forty years later, the survivor contacted Van Niekerk, who was offering support to other current and former members. With the consent of the survivor, Van Niekerk reported the matter to the SAPS. The statute of limitations on sexual offences in South Africa had been lifted by the Constitutional Court in 2017, and so Van Niekerk went to the Linden Police Station in Johannesburg and received a reference number for the case. It was later transferred to Pinetown and the FCS unit. The incident that prompted Van Niekerk to lodge the charge against Worker A, who has also done 'missionary' outreach work in other countries, was the Dean Bruer scandal in the US. Bruer, a veteran Two by Twos overseer and 'worker' who had served in several US states and other countries since 1976, was found dead in his Best Western Mt Hood Inn hotel room in Government Camp, Oregon, in June 2022. Detroit Legal reported that nine months after Bruer died, Doyle Smith, the overseer for Idaho and Oregon, wrote a letter to members stating that evidence left on Bruer's phone and laptop showed he had raped and abused multiple underage victims. 'That was a huge prick in the balloon. That brought down the curtain,' Van Niekerk told Daily Maverick. In his letter to the church community that was subsequently posted online, Doyle Smith, reportedly a US-based 'overseer', wrote that 'we have come to the tragic conclusion that Dean Bruer had another side to his life that none of us, except the victims, ever witnessed or suspected'. Bruer, he acknowledged, 'was a sexual predator'. 'There is a very united consensus among us that the only thing to do is to be transparent with all of you for obvious reasons, though this is very difficult. We are very sorry for the hurt this will bring to the hearts of many. Thankfully, he is no longer in a position to hurt anyone,' Smith added. More than 700 names were given by abuse survivors to a hotline set up by a group called Advocates for The Truth after the Bruer bombshell. The group was formed by Cynthia Liles, a former church member and now private investigator who is assisting with the probe alongside former members Lauren Robs and Sheri Autrey. Liles is collaborating with the FBI in its investigation. She told Daily Maverick that the abuse exposed globally and in South Africa was 'just the tip of the iceberg'. The Telling The Truth website is a portal into the history of the church, while Expressions by Ex 2x2s offers a community and network for survivors. A hotline for former members in Australia and New Zealand received allegations involving about 130 separate people. In March 2024, Vancouver Island resident Lyndell Montgomery, now 49, spoke out after a minister, Lee-Ann McChesney, had abused her when she was 14. Montgomery was a member of the Two by Twos at the time. McChesney was arrested in January and charged with one count of sexual abuse and one count of sexual exploitation. McChesney has pleaded not guilty and the trial is ongoing. In November 2024, Raymond Zwiefelhofer, 61, was convicted in the US on 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to 120 years in prison. According to Maricopa Deputy County Attorney Catherine Fu, a total of 87 files contained child abuse material known as 'child pornography'. These were a combination of photographs and videos, and all depicted children under the age of 15. Zwiefelhofer maintained his innocence. The tech CEO had been a member of the 2x2s on and off for decades. A BBC investigation in February 2024 outed an ex-minister, Robert Corfield, who admitted when confronted that he had sexually abused a young boy while he lived in Canada in 1980. In August in New Zealand, a Northland man and member of the church was arrested as part of the global investigation. The man, whose identity was not disclosed, faces 17 charges of assault lodged by four victims who had been preyed on by the man between 1960 and 1980. In February this year, the FBI enlisted the New Zealand police to assist with the investigation in that country. This data have been collated by organisations such as Wings for Truth, which focuses on protecting children from Child Sexual Abuse (CSA), and Bridges & Balm, which supports survivors in the 'church'. A total of 107 people have been directly affected by the alleged abuse in the Two by Twos and are associated with 43 alleged perpetrators. A total of 94 victims are reported to be alive. Six have died since they suffered alleged abuse. Five of the victims were identified as having 'worker' status, while 102 had 'friend' or ordinary member status. Inside homes What has facilitated what appears to be widespread and continuing abuse is the church's insistence that members host 'missionaries' in their private homes. These 'workers' must be of the same sex, unmarried and sworn to an oath of celibacy. Jesus' prescription in the Bible that disciples go out 'two by two' to spread 'the truth' is the inspiration for this configuration. Evidence has emerged of the grooming methods perpetrators had deployed in the homes they were living in. Van Niekerk, who was raised in the sect, said that at least 10 other alleged survivors, men and women, had come forward in South Africa since the Bruer scandal broke. He said the evidence of abuse had troubled him deeply. 'My great-grandparents were the first in our families to join this fellowship. This fellowship is mostly scripture-based and that is why it appealed to so many people, because it is based on scripture, not on the dogma of man.' After spending 22 years in the Two by Twos, he could not remain silent about 'this scourge of child sexual abuse and also of adults, and the long-term suffering that these people have to endure'. Liles told Daily Maverick that she had connected with a lawyer who had been working with two survivors in 2022, after Bruer's death. Smith's letter to sect members, in which he acknowledged Bruer as a 'rapist and child abuser', led to a hotline being set up for survivors to come forward, she said. Now, as a private investigator, Liles feeds new information from across the globe to the FBI. She said the worldwide impact 'appeared to be the same all over where the church is'. 'There's just been a ton of abuse by the ministry,' she told Daily Maverick. That these sexual predators lived in people's homes, she added, placed potential young victims in their direct and intimate proximity. Children speaking out risked the wrath of family and church elders. Liles said because the abuse had occurred over such a long period, survivors in some countries had no recourse to the law, 'which makes it difficult in some parts of the world'. Some of the perpetrators identified had already died, as had some of their victims. South Africa, which has 'favourable statutes of limitations', could see the same kind of sensational arrests that had occurred in New Zealand and Canada, said Liles. South African survivor speaks out 'For me, it is about the accountability, which remains with the church. How these people [the perpetrators] are handled helps those of us who have survived to heal,' the abuse survivor in South Africa, whose case was reported to the SAPS, told Daily Maverick. 'Living with the shame and the double shame of the church, and it all being hidden is life-shattering. There have been so many victims and I feel their pain.' The survivor was sexually abused at the age of nine when Worker A was in his mid-twenties and a brother in the sect. The man had 'groomed me over time, calling me his little lamb, his helper, and twirling my hair'. At a church convention in Durban in 1983, Worker A lured the child to the edge of the grounds near a stream, where the alleged sexual assault took place. Afterwards, Worker A had threatened that 'God would punish me if I told anyone'. A day later, he offered the child 'pink musk sweets', which he described as their 'quiet sweets'. When the survivor was 16, they confided in a trusted fellow member of the Two by Twos. 'I fell gravely ill a few months later. To this day I live with multiple autoimmune diseases, which my specialists believe were triggered as the result of immense emotional trauma of the assault. 'On 20 September 2010, I found the courage to confront Worker A via an email,' the survivor said. In response, the survivor alleged Worker A admitted that he had sexually assaulted them as a child. A follow-up telephone conversation after the email prompted a similar admission. The survivor said that when they asked the man how many other children he had molested during his time in the fellowship, his chilling response was: 'What do you consider a child, as they differ so much in maturity?' The assault by Worker A had been reported to other members of the community, including overseers, said the survivor, and it had initially been agreed that he should be removed from 'the work'. 'At the time, I had trusted the workers to deal with this appropriately. However, I endured tremendous pressure from overseers in South America to allow Worker A to continue to work there and blaming me for any 'souls' that would not be saved should he not be allowed back.' The survivor had initially 'stood down' from laying criminal charges against Worker A and also agreed not to pursue any civil action against those overseers who had been tasked with leading the collective. 'I simply did not have the physical and emotional strength to go ahead with it, but it has since come to my attention that the perpetrator has been having meetings in his home. 'A self-acknowledged child predator is allowed to do this,' they explained. The concern is that more children are being placed at risk as long as Worker A continues to act with seeming impunity. 'This is so deep and wide, and there are so many children at risk that the church must take responsibility,' the survivor said. DM Who are the Two by Twos? The Two by Twos is a religious group originating in late 19th-century Ireland, known for its unique evangelistic approach where members, called workers, travel in pairs. The group rejects traditional church structures, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the ordination of ministers, believing themselves to be the sole true church. The sect has a specific structure and hierarchy, although the group itself denies having a central leadership or hierarchy. There are assigned head workers, or overseers, who are responsible for members and regular workers within a region. Breakdown of the structure and hierarchy The Friends: This term refers to all members of the group. It is used to identify fellow members and as a general way of referring to the group. Within the members, there are different levels of commitment marked by practices such as 'Professing' and 'Baptism'.'Professing' involves publicly declaring one's faith and commitment to the group, typically done when a meeting is 'tested'. Members usually 'profess' between the ages of 10 and 12, and must 'profess' to speak and pray during a meeting. 'Professing' members cannot participate in communion until 'baptised'. 'Baptism' is a rite of passage signifying commitment, typically occurring during the teenage years. Baptism is done by full immersion, rejecting sprinkling and infant baptism. Baptised members are considered fully committed and eligible for communion. A term used for former active members is 'Lost-out'. The Elders: These are members responsible for leading a specific church or meeting, typically held in their home on Sundays. Elders uphold the structure of in-home meetings, are responsible for starting and ending the service, are the last to speak and pray, and lead communion. They are expected to be respected and followed. If a worker is present at an in-home meeting, they usually take on most of the elder's responsibilities The Workers: These are members given the responsibility of spreading the group's beliefs through evangelism, travelling from home to home. They are considered equivalent to ministers in other religions. Workers almost always travel in pairs of the same gender… This practice is a core belief, based on Luke 10:1, and is seen as providing support and accountability. Workers are expected to dedicate themselves fully to spreading the message. Workers must adhere to all the rules for regular members but to an even higher extent, dressing more modestly, and prioritising their relationship with God even more. They spend long periods reading the Bible and praying. Workers are expected to have limited possessions, relying on the generosity of others. They typically travel with just one suitcase, although possessions like smartphones, tablets and laptops are now common. They usually do not own vehicles, but are often provided one within a field. Workers rarely have a designated home and are expected to constantly move from home to home, usually staying only a few days in one place. They are rarely given time to see their families. Workers are expected to be celibate and are not allowed to be married, a mandate established by 'overseers'. There is a hierarchy within the group of workers, with brother workers generally considered to be of higher esteem than sister workers. The Overseers: This refers to a leader responsible for all workers and members within a given region, which can be a state or multiple states, or even an entire country in smaller areas. Overseers are always male members and are typically senior workers who have been in the ministry for many years. They oversee the work of others and provide guidance and direction. The Head Overseer: This is a leader responsible for all overseers within a specific area. The only known examples are in the US (eastern US) and potentially Australia. A head overseer is in charge of the overseers in their designated area and also has their own region of responsibility. Structural units for the work also include: Fields: These are subregions within an overseer's larger region. Each field typically has a minimum of 100 members and is generally made up of a city or multiple towns. Two workers are usually assigned to a field to spread the message, organise meetings, provide spiritual guidance and arrange gospel meetings. In the name of God Two things have become apparent while researching this depressing and sadly not-so-shocking Two by Twos church scandal. It is neither the scope or how long it has been allowed to continue and been covered up, nor the lifelong scars this has left on thousands upon thousands of victims and survivors. These are a special class of survivor — those of religious predation and abuse; individuals whose very spiritual core has been shattered and wounded by the entitlements of male church hierarchies claiming a perverse power and hold over the souls of those they 'save' in the name of God. The words we use The first is that the word 'pornography' does not describe the scourge of child torture, sexual assault and rape that takes place. Most often this is filmed and photographed, and distributed among networks. Pornography is for adult consumption. This is something much darker and depraved. We should insist on calling it what it is. Secondly, surely it is time for the recommendations of the 2017 Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Commission report into the Commercialisation of Religion and Abuse of People's Belief Systems to be acted upon. The commission's recommendations to amend existing legislation to protect congregants and believers, and for religious organisations to register with the government, was resisted by the religious establishment. Eight years later in April this year, the commission announced that a Section 22 Committee led by Prof Musa Xulu will work towards the establishment of a peer review council to protect congregants from harm. There is enough evidence — and it mounts daily — that religion is being weaponised by self-appointed prophets and preachers in positions of 'leadership' to exploit 'followers'. This greed is performed for either financial gain, or political power or perverse sexual enjoyment. Sometimes it's all three. The Two by Twos pustule that burst globally in 2022 is just one scandal among many. From deviants in the Catholic and Anglican Churches, to the Pentecostal pastors who force congregations to eat grass or touch their genitals during a 'service', many have dark secrets to hide. The victims are, in every single instance, women and children, boys and girls, who are rendered powerless by religious dogma and scriptures set in stone. In the eyes of these 'holy men', those in the flock lower down in the hierarchy are biblically sanctioned possessions. Apart from registering as tax-free institutions, a matter of debate when it comes to mega-millions mega-churches selling tax-free holy water and underpants, what other controls exist? What prevents anyone from declaring they are their own Personal Jesus? As did the notorious South African paedophile Gert van Rooyen (alongside his partner Joey Haaroff), who is believed to have kidnapped and murdered six young girls in South Africa between 1988 and 1989, before shooting Joey and himself as the police closed in on him. Pieter van Zyl details in his book Gert and Joey, how Van Rooyen converted to Christianity while in jail for the rape of two 12-year-old girls and, upon his release, established a congregation that he led. Van Rooyen operated in the apartheid era, but people like him thrive under the cloak of religious protection today because we live in a secular society where freedom of religion is guaranteed and a constitutional right. Surely then the Constitution should protect citizens from horrific and criminal exploitation when it occurs in this realm? 'Established' religious institutions in South Africa are allowed a high degree of autonomy and are not subject to government control. That is democracy. As Public Benefit Organisations, there is no need for religious organisations to pay tax, and that is it. What then to do with the criminals who hide behind the Bible and religious garb? What checks and balances exist to stop such horrific accounts of abuse, over years and generations, leaving broken lives? Leon van Niekerk, the Two by Twos member who reported abuse to the South African Police Service, shows us how we can use the Constitution to put the fear of the law into abusers of all shapes and sizes.
Daily Maverick
3 days ago
- Daily Maverick
Spies and SA's narco secrets — behind the US sentencing of global drug trafficker ‘Sultan' Muhammad Asif Hafeez
Muhammad Asif Hafeez of Pakistan previously pleaded guilty in the US to drug trafficking charges. Now he's reportedly been sentenced in a case also implicating Vicky Goswami, a Mandrax mastermind who once testified about dominating South Africa's narco trade — and murders. South Africa's narcotrafficking arena, part of global organised crime, is saturated with suspicions linked to spies, double agents and politics. A sprawling case that touches on some of these elements involves Muhammad Asif Hafeez, also known as 'the big boss' and 'Sultan', from Pakistan. He once claimed to be a US government informant. In November last year the US Justice Department issued a statement announcing that Hafeez, 'one of the world's most prolific drug traffickers', pleaded guilty to narco conspiracy charges there. It also said Hafeez had been dominant 'in a sophisticated international drug trafficking network'. That drug network extended all the way to South Africa. And among those involved in it were individuals who have, or are suspected to have, operated in different countries' government circles. Daily Maverick previously referenced a 2019 Vrye Weekblad report that said Mandrax trafficker Vicky Goswami of India, in sealed grand jury testimony in the US, alleged that members of the Gupta family were involved in money laundering on behalf of Hafeez. A Gupta lawyer on a previous occasion previously failed to respond to Daily Maverick questions about this. And a lawyer for Hafeez had said his client denied knowing the Guptas. Now, it was reported that earlier this month, on 6 June 2025, that Hafeez had been sentenced in the US to an effective 16 years in jail on the charges he previously pleaded guilty to. Hafeez and heroin The BBC summed up the case: 'After a complex joint operation between the British and American authorities, Hafeez, 66, was extradited from the UK in 2023. He pleaded guilty last November. 'He was (recently) sentenced to 16 years in a New York prison for conspiring to import drugs — including enough heroin for 'millions of doses' — into the US.' Unlike previously when the US government issued press releases when accused individuals in the broader case linked to Hafeez were arrested, pleaded or were sentenced, this did not happen with the handing down of his jail term. Daily Maverick unsuccessfully tried to get direct confirmation and details on Hafeez's sentencing, which has since been reported on internationally, from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. A search on the US government's inmate locator platform did not show anyone detained there under his name. But an inmate recorded as 'Muhammad Hafiz' was jailed there and his age was recorded as 66 years — this, based on what the US previously divulged in a press statement, is roughly the same as Hafeez's age. Daily Maverick has also established that one of his aliases listed on an indictment against him is 'Muhammad Asif Hafiz'. This therefore suggests that Hafeez is indeed a sentenced prisoner in the US. Akashas of Kenya He appears to be one of the last key figures, if not the last one, in this specific US case to be sentenced. It has yet to be seen whether the case will now quietly taper off or if information gleaned from it, which may include secrets about South Africa's drug trade, will result in further arrests and legal proceedings. Baktash Akasha Abdalla, Ibrahim Akasha Akasha Abdalla, Gulam Hussein, Vijaygiri Anandgiri Goswami extradited to the US over drug trafficking — Hot 96 FM Kenya (@Hot_96Kenya) February 1, 2017 Hafeez was accused of conspiring, from about 2013, with others including two Kenyan brothers, Baktash Akasha Abdalla and Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, better known as the Akashas. According to the US, Baktash allegedly headed an organised crime group known as the Akasha Organisation. It distributed drugs in Kenya, throughout Africa and into the US. Hafeez was accused of being a primary supplier of drugs to the Akashas. Goswami and South Africa This is where Goswami fits in because the Akashas and Hafeez had worked with him. Goswami's past, with strong connections to South Africa, is detailed in this journalist's book, Clash of the Cartels: Unmasking the global drug kingpins stalking South Africa. It details how Goswami appeared to be politically connected in this country. A section also notes some lingering questions about him: 'Was he working with South African activists and politicians who later rose to power when the state became a democracy? 'Will he dig up and detail the dirt on old South African acquaintances? Is he actually an intelligence agent for another country, perhaps the US?' Decades ago, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Goswami operated in Zambia — coincidentally where former president Jacob Zuma became the ANC's intelligence chief during apartheid. In the early 1990s he based himself in South Africa. Goswami later ended up in Dubai and in 1997 he was jailed there for dealing in Mandrax. Goswami was released from a Dubai prison in 2012 and headed to Kenya. The following year, according to US authorities, drug trafficking webs around Goswami expanded to include, among others, the Akasha brothers and Hafeez. Factory raid in India A New York US Attorney's Office press statement picks up the story — and references South Africa. It said that 'by early 2014' the Akasha brothers 'and other members of the Akasha Organization started to work to import ton quantities of methaqualone precursor chemicals into Africa in order to fuel the illicit [Mandrax] pills' production in South Africa'. They used the proceeds of the Mandrax dealings to import ephedrine that was 'produced illegally' at a factory in Solapur, India. In 2016 that factory was raided, though, thwarting their plans. The following year, 2017, the Akashas and Goswami were extradited from Kenya to the US to face criminal charges. That year, Hafeez was provisionally arrested in the UK, where he was based at the time. He tried to prevent his extradition from the UK to the US by turning to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Hafeez had claimed to be a US government informant. But the court found: 'The US Government had denied that the applicant was an informant and, while he may have had contact with law enforcement agencies, the District Judge did not consider that he had done so out of a sense of moral duty. 'Rather, he was someone who had brought to the attention of the authorities the criminal conduct of others who he knew to be actual or potential rivals to his substantial criminal enterprise.' Hafeez was extradited to the US in May 2023. Sentencing and singing in the US By then, Goswami had already started speaking out there, following his extradition years earlier. While testifying in the US in 2019, he referred to the Solapur ephedrine factory that was raided in 2016. He also talked about the assassination in South Africa in 2014 of a drug trafficker — identified in court proceedings only as Pinky, who was shot 32 times. Goswami testified that an acquaintance was promised half a ton of abba (chemicals used to make Mandrax) in exchange for the murder to be carried out. He also explained the reason behind Pinky's assassination: 'Because, first of all, Pinky was threatening us. Second, we wanted to have him killed so we can put an impression in (the) South African drug market (that) we are not here to play.' Daily Maverick has previously reported that while Goswami is wanted in India over the Solapur factory raid saga, he also became a cooperating witness for the US government. As for the Akasha brothers, both have already been sentenced. Baktash was jailed in the US for 25 years in 2018, while Ibrahim was sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment in 2020. With Hafeez earlier this month also being jailed, it means the US has in its custody inmates with apparent intimate knowledge of drug dealings in South Africa, an arena that has always been close to political suspicions. DM
Daily Maverick
5 days ago
- Daily Maverick
Mystery of the latest fake online campaign — in favour of police minister Senzo Mchunu
South African social media is awash with fake accounts being used to hype up politicians. The latest beneficiary – Police Minister Senzo Mchunu. If you logged on to X at any point over the past few months, you may have seen something slightly unexpected: a torrent of tweets in support of Police Minister Senzo Mchunu. 'Minister Mchunu's commitment to transparently sharing crime stats builds trust! It's a breath of air for informed decision making and fighting crime,' read one such tweet – posted, with identical wording, by at least five different accounts. Since March this year, X has been flooded with pro-Mchunu content that bears all the hallmarks of an inauthentic campaign. In April 2025, Daily Maverick detailed how platforms like X were increasingly being used for political manipulation. We identified at least five separate campaigns at that point, each apparently orchestrated by paid 'nano-influencers' – with small followings – and fake accounts to promote specific politicians. During April alone, ActionSA received an online boost for its position on the VAT-hike Budget. Deputy President Paul Mashatile was the subject of glowing posts, seemingly designed to hype him up for a presidential run. Three other ANC politicians – Limpopo provincial secretary Reuben Madadzhe, Limpopo MEC Tony Rachoene, and ANC Youth League leader Collen Malatji – also benefited from coordinated praise. Now, the police minister's name can be added to that list – but seemingly without his knowledge. Digital researchers analyse campaign Analysis by data consultancy Murmur Intelligence researchers Kyle Findlay and Aldu Cornelissen provides a window into how this campaign unfolded. 'Starting in March 2025, a network of seemingly inauthentically coordinated nano influencers has promoted Mchunu and SAPS, with their activity levels consistently ramping up to reach a peak in the second half of April 2025,' Murmur found. 'This network generated 38% of all posts about Mchunu despite only representing about 10% of the users discussing him.' The signs of fakery are hard to miss. Many of the accounts at the forefront of the pro-Mchunu drive were created in a burst during February and March, just before the campaign began. This pattern, according to Murmur, is a 'classic indicator of a pre-planned, inauthentic campaign'. The content itself gives the game away: some posts include obvious AI-generated mistakes, like the appearance of the phrase 'Characters: 42', where a prompt was never meant to appear. Other accounts tweeting in support of Mchunu betray their implausibility through contradictory or nonsensical biographical details. @Noni_Thunzi, for instance, who joined X in March 2025, describes herself as an 'Iranian American woman.' @Fezile_thunzi, meanwhile, sports a Chinese-language bio about blockchain technology, and joined in February. Mchunu under fire in recent months It's not hard to guess what might have triggered the campaign. Mchunu has faced some harsh criticism in recent months. In particular, the murder of Olerato Mongale placed the SAPS under intense scrutiny, as did the subsequent manhunt for her murderer, which saw the main suspect killed in a showdown with police in KwaZulu-Natal. The fact that he was gunned down in this manner actually seemed to win widespread support for KZN police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi – and with reports of tension between Mchunu and Mkhwanazi, it was Mchunu who appeared to be the loser in the court of public opinion. In addition, the ever-percolating resentment towards undocumented foreign nationals, and SAPS' perceived reluctance to act against them, has also raised the heat on Mchunu this year. All these issues provided fertile ground for a reputational clean-up effort – of the kind that was subsequently very clumsily launched on X. But when Daily Maverick approached Mchunu for comment on these developments, the minister's reaction was somewhat surprising. Unlike most politicians, who have learnt to ignore media queries about social media manipulation – or, for that matter, most other issues – Mchunu phoned this reporter directly to ask for details. On the call, Mchunu sounded genuinely baffled by the notion of an orchestrated online campaign in his favour, and gave a credible performance of someone who had no knowledge of such tactics. If Mchunu isn't behind the campaign – and there is no evidence to suggest he is – the most likely candidate would seem to be someone within the ANC. Yet when approached for comment twice on the issue of the party using social media in this manner by Daily Maverick, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu has failed to respond to questions. ANC likely to be behind fake campaign This silence does little to dispel the suspicion that the ANC, or at least some elements within it, may have authorised or facilitated the campaign – quite plausibly without Mchunu's cooperation, and, as Murmur notes, potentially to his detriment given the clumsy nature of the work. 'This case serves as a stark reminder of the reputational damage that can be inflicted by such efforts, often without the subject's knowledge or consent,' Murmur said. 'It underscores the critical importance for any public figure or organisation to be aware of the digital activities being conducted in their name and to carefully vet any agency or individuals hired for digital outreach. When a campaign is executed with such little proficiency, it doesn't just fail to persuade; it actively undermines the credibility of the person or cause it was meant to support.' The bigger picture is clear: South Africa is heading into an electoral season where digital manipulation will be more common and more brazen than ever before. The rise of nano influencers and fake accounts means that almost any political figure could become the focus of a synthetic online campaign. As Daily Maverick has warned before, political nano-influencer campaigns – particularly when considered alongside the expanding issue of deepfakes and hyper-realistic AI videos – represent a growing threat to the health of South Africa's democracy. They poison public discourse, sow confusion and blur the line between genuine political support and manufactured hype. And in countries like Romania, this kind of digital manipulation has had real-world impacts on election results. DM
