Social media posts claim that an image shows Russian President Vladimir Putin recently wishing South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma a happy birthday on live television. But the claim is false: The image was created by layering elements typically seen in news broadcasts, including a "breaking news" label, over an old photo of Putin. There is no evidence that any media made such a report.

“Haters…President Vladimir Putin of Russia wished President Jacob Zuma HAPPY BIRTHDAY”, reads a tweet published on April 14, 2023.

The tweet includes a photo of Putin overlaid with "breaking news" and a "live" banners, giving the impression that the head of state was captured wishing Zuma a happy birthday during a live news broadcast.

Zuma turned 81 on April 12, 2023.

A Twitter account that has been associated with Zuma's daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla (archived here) amplified the same claim to more than 230,000 followers.

Zuma-Sambudla has previously expressed (archived here) her allegiance to Putin, calling him the “president of the world” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

South African police investigated her as a potential instigator (archived here) of the July 2021 riots (archived here) sparked by her father's arrest on corruption charges. More than 350 people died during the unrest.

Repurposed 2022 photo

A reverse image search of the image shows that Russia’s state-owned news agency shared the same photograph of Putin with multiple news agencies, ...

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