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Fact check: Viral Durban video misrepresents South Africa

59 0
31.07.2025

Claim: A post on X featuring a video allegedly showing recent lootings in South Africa, and captured: "This is Durban, South Africa," is currently going viral. The post was published by Alex Jones, a US-based far-right radio host known for promoting conspiracy theories. He claims: "This is what removing 'White Oppression' and replacing it with Soros NGO systems looks like. A glimpse into the future of ALL Western countries if changes are not made fast as already seen in the SH!T HOLE blue city’s [sic] across America." The post had 1.6 million views at the time of publication.

DW Fact check: Misleading

The video posted on X does not show a recent situation in Durban, a city in the east of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. While the footage does show a shopping street in central Durban, as the geolocation of the scene indicates, it was not recorded recently. A reverse image search by DW Fact check revealed that the video had already circulated on X and Facebook in 2021. Comparisons with official agency photos from that time confirm that the footage dates back to July 2021.


The video captures a moment during a period of unrest in South Africa, when parts of the country were engulfed in riots and widespread looting — sparked by the

© Deutsche Welle