CLAIM: That’s an AI generated video that has NOTHING to do with SABC
SOURCE: X, formerly Twitter
VERDICT: False
A video of the South African Broadcasting Corporation claiming that a new cabinet has been announced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa with Oppah Muchinguri as one of the vice presidents has surfaced.
The video has been shared on social media platforms here and here.
Responding to this video, an account believed to belong to Deputy Chief Secretary-Presidential Communications in the Office of the President of Zimbabwe, Mr George Charamba, castigated the SABC, ‘SABC MUST FEEL SUITABLY EMBARRASSED BY THIS FAKERY IT HAS DIGNIFIED AS NEWS. IT IS A REAL SHAME WHICH IS INEVITABLE ONCE SUCH A BIG NEWS ORGANISATION THINKS IT CAN GET NEWS ON ZIMBABWE GOVT FROM ANY OTHER SOURCE OTHER THAN THE GOVT CONCERNED. I HOPE THEY LEARN FOR BETTER!!!!! twitter.com/CMukungunugwa/…’
In response, users on X largely called this an AI generated or deep fake video here and here, while a few believed that this is a video from the SABC here.
Even journalists deemed this video AI generated, as well as media here. .
But is the video AI generated?
To begin with, the presenter on the video clip can be identified as Thabile Ngwato. She was with the SABC until 2018.
This would then mean that the video is either AI generated or an old video from before 2018.
The video does not show signs of being AI generated or doctored.
FactCheckZW then looked for clues in the video itself. The video refers to Sydney Sekeramayi being retained for the Defence Ministry. Sekeramayi was the last Defence minister under Robert Mugabe’s cabinet in 2017.
The video also refers to Chris Mutsvangwa as chairman of the war veterans association. He is presently a minister in the current government.
The video seemed most likely an old SABC report that got caught up in misinformation as there were rumours in 2017 of President Mnangagwa planning to appoint Muchinguri as vice president.
A google search of ‘SABC names Oppah Muchinguri as vice President’ returned a 2017 article by the Zimbabwean headlined, ‘Mnangagwa latest: SABC fooled by “Prophet” Bushiri?
This also led to a post on X with the original SABC video where the broadcaster had mistakenly named this cabinet, which had not been officially announced.
Conclusion
The SABC video announcing the appointment of Oppah Muchinguri as vice president and George Charamba as minister of information, among other appointees is not AI generated. It is a video aired by the broadcaster in November 2017 where it mistakenly took rumour for fact. The claim that this is ‘an AI generated video that has NOTHING to do with SABC’ has been rated as false. It had everything to do with the SABC but in 2017 not now.
