Claim: Facebook users in Nigeria are circulating an alleged prison image of former South African president, Jacob Zuma, who was recently jailed. Their aim is to show Nigerian elites and politicians that no position in life is permanent.
Verdict: The image showing former South African president, Jacob Zuma, in an orange prison uniform is doctored and created to mislead the public.
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Full Story: On July 7, the former South African president handed himself over to authorities after a court sentenced him in June to 15 months imprisonment for contempt.
The incarceration of the 79-year-old former president sparked one of the country’s worst violent outbreaks that involved looting and arson.
The decision of the court to jail a man of such political standing and former president was greeted by some Nigerians with enthusiasm. They took to the social media to share a purported image of Jacob Zuma in an orange prison uniform to drive home the point that no condition in life is permanent.
Charles Udoetuk posted on his Facebook wall: “The former president of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma, in his prison uniform, queue for food with fellow inmates in a South African prison. Truly, no condition is permanent. I recommend this for every democratic nation, every political officeholder and those who feel government’s money is their birthright.”
A screenshot of the image posted on Facebook by Charles Udoetuk.
Elias Nankap Lamle posted the same image with text but added, “Until the day Nigerians will attain this position, we don’t have democracy.”
A screenshot of the same image shared by Kingsley Emeka in an open group named Atiku Abubakar Pavilion with over 8,000 Facebook members.
The picture was also shared by Kinsley Emeka on Atiku Abubakar Pavilion, a Facebook open group with more than 8,000 members, with the caption: “Life, they say, is a teacher.”
Verification: The image was first subjected to visual analysis, in which it was noticed that it was watermarked with @RealMrumaDrive, a twitter account owned by Rumani (@RealMrumaDrive), who joined Twitter in 2018, has a followership of 275.8 thousand, and his location shows Boksburg, South Africa.
Rumani with username @RealMrumaDrive watermarked the image with his username and tweeted it on July 8th 2021.
On July 8, he posted the image of Jacob Zuma in an orange prison uniform, with the caption: “Situation right now…” with a crying emoji and an emoji with hands above head. The image was liked 501 times, retweeted 69 times and commented on 46 times.
Using Google reverse image search, Tineye and Yandex, showed that the original image of the picture had appeared in several places and goes as far back as 2014.
Tineye reverse image search revealed 12 results of the original image which shows the prison inmate by the left is not Jacob Zuma.
The original picture also appeared in a 2014 fact check on whether prisoners have access to better health facilities than public by Africa Check. However, another doctored image of the original picture is revealed by Yandex to visualise a 2020 story of an alleged Malawian pastor and his wife who were nabbed for fraud and other offences in South Africa.
A screenshot of the same image doctored in 2020 to portray an alleged Malawian pastor and his wife who were arrested in South Africa.
A Google reverse image search shows that a BBC reality check reveals that the original image was taken in 202 and credited to the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Conclusion: The purported image showing former South African president, Jacob Zuma in prison uniform is doctored, and therefore, deliberately created to mislead the public.
