Mathapelo Peters from the police said there’s been a spread of fake news which has caused unnecessary panic among communities
Police are sounding a note of warning to people to cease from spreading fake news about human trafficking and kidnappings.
On social media, a video clip has circulated wildly, where a man claimed how he watched how kidnappers abducted a woman at gunpoint in Midrand.
However, it happened that neither the woman nor her six-year old child were harmed.
In another incident, an Afrikaans woman claimed the kidnap of her child at a retailer in Brits and that several other related crimes had happened around the country.
Mathapelo Peters from the police said there’s been a spread of fake news which has caused unnecessary panic among communities.
“In some instances that are not necessarily on social media, some members of the public have taken to mainstream media with allegations of human trafficking and kidnapping and claiming to know victims or to have witnessed incidents personally. However, when police reach out to determine specific incidents or police stations for the purposes of further investigation, no such detail can be provided by the same people.”
