Social media users in South Africa have been sharing a screenshot of a series of tweets, purportedly from national broadcaster eNCA, claiming that Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said the party was in an “advanced stage” of negotiations with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to form a coalition government. However, the screenshot was fabricated: it used a real eNCA tweet but then added a second, doctored tweet about coalition talks. There have been no reports of Steenhuisen announcing coalition talks with the ANC.

The screenshot has been shared hundreds of times on social media here, here and here. It contains two purported tweets that appear to use eNCA’s Twitter handle.

The first reads: “DA leader John Steenhuisen: ‘Yes, it's true that discussions with the ANC around how we plan to work and govern together are at an advanced stage. For now, I am not able to give further details but only to confirm that the senior leadership of the ANC have accepted our proposal.’”

Just below, the second tweet reads: “ANC NEC member, Thembi Nkadimeng says the ruling party is open to having discussions with opposition parties. Nkadimeng says the ANC is willing to hold coalition talks with the DA. #eNCA #DStv403 #QuestionThinkAct #AllAngles.” Below is what appears to be a clip from eNCA’s news channel featuring Nkadimeng at a press briefing.

Reactions to the posts were mixed, with some believing the claim and others calling it false.

Doctored screenshot

The...

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