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News24
4 hours ago
- News24
Fake Sassa grants ‘news' is exploding online. Here's how to spot the lies
YouTube channels and fake news websites are pumping out dozens of false stories about Sassa grants and jobs every month. These hoaxes prey on vulnerable recipients, spreading confusion, false hope or panic. Many are clearly fake, Andrew Thompson writes, but they have still managed to infiltrate public discourse and be widely shared. South Africa's social grant system is under digital siege. A flood of fake news targeting the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has spread across Facebook, YouTube and a network of low-quality, foreign-run websites. These stories are designed to mislead, confuse or panic grant recipients, often with the aim of generating clicks and ad revenue by preying on vulnerable beneficiaries. YouTube channels with tens of thousands of subscribers and some videos with hundreds of thousands of views have together uploaded hundreds of fake videos this year alone. They claim imminent changes to payouts, onerous new rules, or exciting bonuses. Dozens of websites posing as job boards or news sites have also published false notices about new jobs, grant amounts, pension cuts, and backlogged payments. Screengrab None of these channels have any connection to South African state institutions, yet they continue to reach large audiences and prompt real-world concern, forcing Sassa to issue repeated denials. In May, Sassa issued a media statement highlighting the extent of the problem and warning that it is 'concerned about the mushrooming and the rapid spread of fake news and disinformation targeting the Agency and its services almost daily'. It stressed that it has made no announcements about 'double grants', changes to pension rules, or automatic top-ups, which are among the most popular fake news stories that tend to gain traction. 'Furthermore, reports have been spreading like wildfire that Sassa has announced 'New Rules Could Affect Your Pension' from 10 June. The report has even gone further and announced various dates for different provinces. This is not an official announcement from Sassa,' the cautionary statement reads. How fake Sassa grant news spreads: volume, panic, and false hope The wave of Sassa disinformation in 2025 has followed two broad patterns, regardless of the medium or the outlet disseminating it, and the content is broadly split into two themes: fake job adverts and fake grant updates. The job advertisements regularly go viral. They claim that well-paid government positions requiring no experience are available and often direct users to deceptive forms or clickbait sites that mine data. These regularly appear as images on fake government letterheads that circulate widely on platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and X. SASSA The fake grant updates employ a more familiar disinformation approach with a different motive. These mostly AI-generated false news articles report on increased or double payments, pension rule changes, or Sassa 'deadlines' that risk non-payment of grants. All are presented without basis, and often spill over from clearly fake websites into public discourse. Fake news websites and YouTube accounts repeatedly publish variations of similar videos and articles, many of which use text-to-speech tools and AI-generated thumbnails to appear convincing. The tone ranges from panic ('rules changing next week!') to false reassurance ('you can still claim your R7 000 today'). Most rely on sheer volume, hoping that one story or job advert will catch on and spread - as many already have. News24's Disinformation Desk has counted hundreds of fake news articles about Sassa currently online, and although many fade into obscurity, an increasing number are breaking through requiring official responses. Screengrab For now, the motive of these platforms appears to be financial gain. Most of the videos are hosted on monetised channels, and the websites link to Google Adwords accounts. If these get enough traction from panicked recipients, they will generate some revenue for the owners. Yet ironically, much of the vitality of this material reveals itself on platforms like WhatsApp without direct links to the source, which do not generate the website owners income but have the same impact on grant recipients. The majority of the Sassa disinformation that gains mainstream traction appears not to have an overt political motive or agenda, yet. Instead, it is riding on the wave of attention afforded by this vulnerable target market, many of whom are understandably deceived by the deluge. Rapid-fire Sassa debunks from the last few months alone News24's Disinformation Desk has identified hundreds of fake news stories and videos targeting Sassa recipients published in the last few months alone. Here are the most prominent examples, with their themes often emulated across other fake news sites: A viral post linking to a website called All Provinces Jobs claimed that 'South African government jobs 2025' were open for applications. The link leads to a fraudulent website not affiliated with any government department. Similar posts appeared on Facebook pages falsely advertising hiring opportunities through Sassa, often featuring job titles and closing dates to lend false credibility and create a sense of urgency. YouTube channels 'SASSA Benefits Updates' and 'Stimulus Sam' have released several dozen videos each about grant payments in South Africa, including that increased Sassa payments would be made in June 2025. The videos utilise text-to-speech narration featuring a vaguely South African accent and footage that is clearly created with generative AI. Both channels are entirely fake. A report hosted on the fake news website Debtcol Council claimed that 'new rules could affect your pension' from 10 June. Sassa has confirmed that this is also false. Another story on that website claimed application backlogs had been cleared, while yet another suggested a new top-up payment was in progress. All are fabricated. A website called Prabh Honda published a story about Sassa grant suspensions, which is entirely baseless and without truth. A piece on Rise Up WV, a website responsible for several prominent fake news items, stated that grant beneficiaries needed to reapply for doubled payments due to 'SASSA system updates'. There is no basis for this in any of Sassa's official communications. Why it matters - and how to protect yourself or family members Many of the intended recipients of these grants are older, economically vulnerable, and may not be experienced with digital literacy or fact-checking online. The combination of desperation and trust in anything that looks official makes this a fertile ground for exploitation via disinformation. These false reports don't just casually mislead - comments beneath even palpably false news items and videos indicate the confusion and desperation many experience about this topic. This fake news also distracts Sassa, which is already stretched in the payment grants, by forcing them to correct disinformation. To stay safe, advise family members of the following: Check only official Sassa channels: Information is reliably published on and Sassa's verified X and Facebook pages. Do not trust any information sent via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Sassa does not communicate important information via forwarded messages. Never enter personal information into a form on a website claiming to offer Sassa job opportunities. Ignore YouTube channels with videos claiming to be the Department of Social Development or Sassa. Sassa's official YouTube page is not used to share news about grants. When in doubt, don't share: spreading false information, even with good intentions, can cause unnecessary panic.
Fox News
13 hours ago
- Fox News
South Sudan deportations have placed migrants, and ICE officials, in danger: new court filing
Nearly a dozen ICE officials and a group of migrants deported to South Sudan by the Trump administration are currently being housed in a converted shipping container and face grave dangers to their physical health, according to a new court filing. The filing, submitted by senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official Mellisa Harper, cites a combination of blistering-high heat conditions, exposure to malaria and "imminent danger" of rocket attacks from terrorist groups in Yemen as threats to both the migrants and ICE officials. It comes after U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ordered the Trump administration to keep in U.S. custody a group of eight migrants who were deported to South Sudan without due process or the ability to challenge their removals to a third country. He ordered they remain in U.S. custody until each could be given a "reasonable fear interview," or a chance to explain to U.S. officials any fear of persecution or torture, should they be released. But the filing makes clear that the migrants, and ICE officials, face dangers in the meantime. According to Harper, ICE officials were not given anti-malaria medication prior to traveling to Djibouti – subjecting them to unknown levels of disease exposure in a war-torn region, where there has been an uptick in deadly clashes over resource scarcity, including cattle and access to potable water. The president of the country declared a state of emergency in certain parts of South Sudan just days ago. And even within the confines of the U.S. base, there are significant risks. According to ICE's submission, the migrants are being housed in a converted Conex shipping container at the U.S. military base in Djibouti, the only permanent military base the U.S. currently operates in Africa. Since their arrival, daily temperatures there have exceeded 100 degrees – searing conditions that they said make detention "of any length," especially longer term. Nearby burn pits used by Djibouti to burn off trash and human waste form a giant "smog cloud" that hangs over the base for much of the day, exposing the group to unknown hazardous materials burned off under breezeless, blistering hot skies. Some ICE officers have started to sleep in N-95 masks for additional protection, Harper noted. "Within 72 hours of landing in Djibouti, the officers and detainees began to feel ill," Harper noted, with symptoms such as coughing, difficulty breathing, and achy joints – though they lack the testing or medication necessary for treatment. Other, more imminent risks also remain. Upon arrival, ICE officials were notified by Defense Department officials of the "imminent danger" of rocket attacks from terrorist groups in Yemen, Harper noted, though ICE officers lack body armor or other gear appropriate in the case of an attack. The new filing could add pressure on the Trump administration to relocate the detainees and ICE officials in question. Murphy had stated in a previous order that migrants deported to South Sudan need not be held there, in a country where recent infighting and deadly conflict have displaced more than 150,000 people this year alone. He said then that the government had mischaracterized his order, "while at the same time manufacturing the very chaos they decry." His order requires the Trump administration to keep the six deported migrants in South Sudan under the custody of U.S. officials for a length of time needed to carry out the so-called "reasonable fear interviews," and make a determination over whether the migrants' concerns are adequate. "The court never said that defendants had to convert their foreign military base into an immigration facility," Murphy wrote in that order. "It only left that as an option, again, at defendants' request," he said then. It is unclear whether the government has plans to relocate the group.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump Adviser Urges Immigration Investigation Into Elon Musk's Past as "Illegal Alien"
As Elon Musk and Donald Trump's bromance experiences a rapid but totally predictable disassembly, Musk's archnemesis Steve Bannon is calling on the president to investigate the world's richest man's dubious immigration history. "They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status, because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately," Bannon told the New York Times on Thursday. He also declared that Musk should be investigated for his alleged drug habit. Bannon was a former chief strategist to Trump. He no longer holds the role in an official capacity, but remains an informal adviser and an influential voice on the American far right. Musk and Trump traded blows on their respective personal social media playgrounds this week, not long after Musk suddenly announced that his time as a "special government employee" was over. Once out of the White House, it didn't take long for things to escalate from Musk blasting the president's newly proposed spending bill, to Trump threatening to cancel Elon's billions of dollars worth of government contracts, to Musk clapping back by saying he'd cut off NASA's invaluable access to his spacecraft. Musk also really went off the rails by shouting from the rooftops of X that Trump is in the unreleased Epstein files, and then agreeing that the president should be impeached. We can only imagine the pure schadenfreude bliss that Bannon must be experiencing right now. He's made no secret of his contempt for Musk, who he's previously called a "toddler," and "not tough enough," and a "parasitic illegal alien." Some of that is probably his jealousy speaking: Musk had replaced Bannon as the president's golden boy, a role he lost when Trump kicked Bannon kicked to the curb for stealing the limelight during his first term in office. Bannon, an alleged white supremacist, has always been skeptical of Musk's sudden realignment with the MAGA movement, and has constantly chided the Silicon-Valley-liberal turned Texas-based-technocrat for not being conservative — or racist — enough. So you can bet he's making the most of Musk's downfall, capitalizing on his dubious personal immigration history. Despite his constant slandering of immigrants, the South Africa-born businessman was likely at one point an "illegal" immigrant too, overstaying on a student visa even though he'd dropped out of school to work on his startup. His brother, Kimbal, has admitted to both of them working illegally. Bannon, on top of calling for Musk's deportation, has recommended nationalizing Musk's businesses, too. "President Trump tonight should sign an executive order calling for the Defense Production Act to be called and seize SpaceX tonight before midnight," Bannon said Thursday on an episode of his War Room podcast, as quoted by the Daily Beast. But he faces a fearsome keyboard warrior in Musk, who retaliated in a slur-bedazzled tweet: "Bannon is peak r*tard." Then he doubled down, clarifying that Bannon was, in fact, a "communist r*tard." There's clearly no love being lost between the two. Trump, for his part, is doing his best Don Draper impression. "I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem. The poor guy's got a problem," he said Friday, per CNN. More on Elon Musk: Elon Musk Declares That He's "Immediately" Cutting Off NASA's Access to Space
