SANDF 'gravely concerned' about sabre-rattling Facebook page

07 September 2018 - 08:34 By timeslive
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File photo.
File photo.
Image: GALLO/GETTY IMAGES

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is “gravely concerned” about a fake military Facebook page that claims the country is capable of manufacturing nuclear ballistic missiles and is ready to go to war.

The page‚ using the corporate name “South African National Defence Force – Media”‚ was created on April 22 and depicts images of various military aircraft‚ missiles and vehicles in action.

A post this week claimed the defence force was a “sleeping giant” that could “easily become a nuclear state within a few hours.

“We have the technology and with a bit of upgrade we can make ballistic missiles that can reach anywhere in the world but for now South Africa is not interested in nuclear weapons (sic).”

An earlier post‚ dated September 4‚ said South Africa “is not scared of any country including the US.

“The art of winning a war is not about who has the biggest weapons or the most weapons it's about who has the smartest strategy. South Africa does not have any enemies at the moment but we are prepared to fight anyone anywhere any day any time and succeed (sic).”

“The SANDF vehemently distances itself from this scandalous and illegal Facebook page‚” said a statement issued by SANDF spokesman Brigadier General Mafi Mgobozi on Thursday night.

“The creators of this page have used images of an aircraft and a vessel similar to current SANDF equipment. This is seen as an ill-intended ploy to mislead the general public into accepting this page as an official Facebook page of the SANDF. The SANDF has reported this page as a scam to the relevant Facebook administrators to have it removed‚” he added.

The official SANDF Facebook page is “SA National Defence Force - @sandfcorpevents”.

Mgobozi urged the public not to be misled by content posted on the page.

Already‚ observers have posted comments below some of the claims made thereon.

Kgaugelo Mercy said: “When I liked this page I thought it was the real SANDF page. Clearly I was wrong… there is no way that my organisation will post such things.”

“The aircraft in the background is not in use by South African armed forces and never has been. Fake site‚” posted Will Granzier.

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