The police’s Mathapelo Peters said that these messages spread unnecessary panic among communities.
JOHANNESBURG – Police are warning people not to spread fake information around human trafficking and kidnappings.
A video clip has gone viral on social media, where a man frantically claims that he witnessed the kidnapping of a woman at gunpoint in Midrand. However, it turns out the woman and her six-year-old child were not harmed.
In a separate incident, an Afrikaans woman claimed that a child was kidnapped at a retailer in Brits and that similar crimes had been committed across the country.
Police said that this too turned out to be a false message.
The police’s Mathapelo Peters said that these messages spread unnecessary panic among communities.
“In some instances that are not necessarily on social media, some members of the public have taken to mainstream media with allegations of human trafficking and kidnapping and claiming to know victims or to have witnessed incidents personally. However, when police reach out to determine specific incidents or police stations for the purposes of further investigation, no such detail can be provided by the same people.”
