On September 21, 2021 a tweet went up the internet with claims of 30 South Africans intercepted while trying to cross over to Zimbabwe using the Beitbridge Border Post. Images on this tweet show people in a compartment of what looks like cargo on transit.
It is alleged that some of the possessions obtained from these South Africans were CVs and academic certificates. An indication that they were probably going to seek employment in Zimbabwe.
Background
According to a Quarterly Labour Force Survey, by the Department of Statistics South Africa women are more vulnerable with an unemployment rate of 36.8% in the second quarter of 2021 while that of men was 32.4% in the period.
According to an analysis by Bloomberg, South Africa’s unemployment rate is the highest on a global list of 82 countries.
Verification
From the first image, the truck ferrying this cargo of lumber has a logo of AECOM. AECOM is an engineering consulting firm with its head offices in Los Angeles, California, United States. However, it also has a branch office in South Africa. This, just like the parent company deals in civil engineering.
Now, reverse image searches show these images were shared on Reddit as early as January 30, 2021.
Running a further check, this Reddit account shared an additional image of a police vehicle spotted at the scene of this interception. This vehicle can be identified to be belonging to the Laredo Police Department. Laredo Police Department is Laredo’s local municipal law enforcement agency. Laredo is a city in Texas on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Another result shows this same image was featured in an article by Laredo Morning Times on January 5, 2021. According to the Laredo Morning Times, this trailer with AECOM’s company logo was intercepted at the U.S. Border Patrol Checkpoint on Interstate 35 on December 29, 2020.
Checks at this border point are overseen by Laredo North Agents. According to United States Customs and Border Protection, this border point is one of the largest Border Patrol traffic checkpoints.
Another reverse search shows this image was published on Twitter on January 31, 2021.
Verdict
NO, these images don’t show South African intercepts trying to cross over to Zimbabwe.
This story was produced by Africa Uncensored in partnership with Code for Africa with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.
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