Durban - The post about the country being sanitised tomorrow at 10am is fake.
On Thursday morning, a screengrab circulated on various community groups warning residents to stay inside because there will be helicopters flying over SA, sanitising the country.
The post read: "Tomorrow no one should be out at 10:00 in the morning there will be helicopters spraying chemicals solutions the whole South Africa Please share the message to friends & Groups".
It originated from a Facebook book page called President Ramaphosa SA, which has since been removed.
The post was slammed by government.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/FakeNews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FakeNewsand misleading information.
Verify the information before you share information #CoronaVirusUpdate pic.twitter.com/eiPgQoui90
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA)
Meanwhile, those continuing to spread fake news about Covid-19 will be prosecuted. According to recently gazetted regulations, those convicted for spreading hoax reports about coronavirus could be jailed for up to six months or fined. The regulations were gazetted by Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Cogta further released information that could be vital to residents to share to their social media in light of the other regulations that have been put into effect after President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement on Sunday.
The Mercury
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