South Africa: Jacob Zuma's daughter identified as a cog in Russian propaganda

Duduzile Zuma, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, June 25, 2022. AP - Themba Hadebe

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Does Africa have a new pro-Russian influencer? Duduzile Zuma, one of the daughters of former South African President Jacob Zuma, has been identified as a cog in Russian propaganda linked to the war in Ukraine.

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With our correspondent in Johannesburg,Romain Chanson

Were Duduzile Zuma's 237,000 Twitter followers the recipients of propaganda aimed at supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Yes, according to the Centre for Information Resilience (CIF).

This is the result of a forthcoming study by the Center for Information Resilience, which Bloomberg has had access to. This independent centre, based in London, specialises in disinformation and the study of social networks.

According to his study, tweets by Duduzile Zuma supporting Russia and President Vladimir Putin were the starting point for widespread online spread. "She was one of the driving forces and the starting point of a campaign of tweets that were copied into the South African information space," said Nina Jankowicz, EIF Vice-President.

Multiplication of pro-Russian hashtags

In the last 24 hours, Duduzile Zuma has posted six tweets in support of Russia and portraying Vladimir Putin as the savior of Africans. The use of certain hashtags, such as "I Stand With Russia" and their multiplication in copy and paste on social networks, make the CIR say that this is a malicious and coordinated strategy.

Duduzile Zuma did not respond to Bloomberg's requests for comment. This is not the first time she has been singled out for her tweets: during the July 2021 riots that left more than 350 dead in South Africa, she was accused of encouraging the uprising.

► Read also: South Africa faced with its position of neutrality on the war in Ukraine

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  • South Africa
  • Jacob Zuma
  • Social Media
  • Russia
  • Ukraine
  • Twitter