South Africa: No Evidence That Members of Major South African Political Party Were Arrested for Corruption While Travelling Internationally
No evidence that members of major South African political party were arrested for corruption while travelling internationally
IN SHORT: A video posted on YouTube and shared across Facebook, TikTok and WhatsApp falsely claims several senior officials of South Africa’s largest political party were arrested for corruption by international law-enforcement agencies. But this is fabricated.
A video circulating online in early June 2025 claims that “several senior members of the African National Congress – ANC” were arrested in a secret, coordinated operation by international agencies and authorities in Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
The video, styled like a breaking international news segment, says the officials were part of a “transnational corruption syndicate” involving billions of rands in money laundering. It also claims that South African president Cyril Ramaphosa was “visibly shaken” during a live press briefing when asked about the arrests.
The video was originally posted on YouTube and has since been shared across social media platforms. But its claims are false.
No arrests have taken place
The video relies on narration over a series of images of Ramaphosa and other prominent politicians linked to or part of the ANC, the former ruling party and largest member of the current coalition government. It does not mention what ANC members were supposedly arrested or include any footage related to these events.
Africa Check reviewed several credible sources and found no evidence to support the claim. These included press releases from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the Swiss Federal Police. We also checked the official communication channels of the South African Presidency, the National Prosecuting Authority, and the ANC itself. None of these sources contained any confirmation or reference to such arrests.
When asked about the allegation, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu told Africa Check that the party was not aware of any such arrests.
Given the seriousness of the claim, any confirmed incident like this would have made major headlines, both locally and internationally. But no credible news reports exist.
The original YouTube video also does not cite any official sources, name the individuals allegedly arrested, or include any footage of Ramaphosa’s speech. This lack of detail makes it difficult or impossible to verify the information, a red flag commonly seen in misinformation.
The audio does narrate a dramatic reaction from Ramaphosa, claiming he was caught off guard during a public address: “Witnesses report that Ramaphosa’s hands trembled as he spoke. His voice cracked during his initial response. ‘We have just received this deeply troubling information,’ he said, pausing as he removed his glasses and wiped his face.”
But there is no evidence for this and it also appears to have been fabricated.
False claims like this designed to mislead and go viral
Videos like this are often created to go viral and not to inform. They rely on dramatic, made-up details to grab people’s attention and gain the social media account views and followers. But they usually don’t name sources or provide verifiable evidence or links to official reports, because none exist.
Africa Check has debunked several political misinformation claims and published a guide on how to spot misleading videos.
By Africa Check
