John Steenhuisen slams fake DA TikTok accounts

DA leader John Steenhuisen has slammed fake TikTok accounts using the party’s name by announcing an official account on the platform. 

This week, Steenhuisen announced the DA created the account to curb confusion created by imposters and to push the frontiers of communication. 

“We are pushing the frontiers of communication and being able to communicate with many more South Africans. We have decided to have our own TikTok account, so welcome to it,” he said.

“This is the official account. Don’t look at any of the other ones. There are a lot of fake accounts running around.”

The account comes after a fake DA account on the platform was slammed by many users for, among other things, glorifying apartheid. 

The account posted pro-apartheid videos and used hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter to gain attention.

A quick glance on the app shows there are more than five accounts bearing the DA’s name and emblem. 

Other political figures, including former president Jacob Zuma, have exposed fake social media accounts claiming to be them. 

Through his foundation, Zuma exposed an account using his name to post controversial tweets. 

“The Jacob Zuma Foundation has been alerted to a pseudo account which has been posting controversial tweets. The foundation would like to alert the public and denounce anything that has been posted by the fake account @PresJacobGZuma,” said the foundation.

The name of Zuma’s son, Duduzane, has also been used to create fake social media accounts.

A popular one, with more than 118,000 followers, regularly dupes people into believing it is the 36-year-old businessman’s official account.

TimesLIVE reported that Africa Check, a non-partisan fact-checking organisation, found the account does not belong to the former president’s son, despite its claim.

The account was first created under the name “Bantukazi Biko” in August 2016 and appeared to have interacted with Black First Land First (BLF) accounts and networks. It was repurposed to assume the person of Duduzane between August 22 2017 and February 24 2018.