FALSE: The ANC government did not remove the Snake of Fire border fence

FALSE: The ANC government did not remove the Snake of Fire border fence. 

Historical records and border monitoring reports show the physical fence was never dismantled by the state.

A post shared on X formerly Twitter claiming that the Snake of Fire fence was completely removed by the ANC government is FALSE.

The user claims that the democratic South African government entirely dismantled the apartheid era electrified barrier to create an open border.

Evidence:

Historical and security records prove that while the lethal capacity of the border barrier was deactivated, the physical structure itself was never completely removed by the state.

Independent journalistic investigations by the Mail & Guardian show that decades of lack of maintenance, severe river flooding, and systemic vandalism by cross-border smugglers rather than state-ordered demolition are what caused large sections of the barrier to fall apart.

Whicob News investigated a claim posted on X (formerly Twitter) alleging that the ANC government completely removed the Snake of Fire border fence and found the claim to be FALSE.

This fact-check was produced by Whicob News / Farai Dziwanyika as part of the African Fact-Checking Alliance’s (AFCA) incubation programme. It was produced with peer-mentorship from Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, PesaCheck, with financial support from Norway. AFCA mentorship respects the journalistic independence of the researchers, offering access to advanced techniques and tools. Editorial decision-making remains with Whicob News. Want to learn more? Visit: https://factcheck.africa/