FALSE- Viral post claims Nigerians captured Hillbrow and banned South Africans

FALSE: Viral post claims Nigerians captured Hillbrow and banned South Africans. 

No official records or historical evidence support the claim that Nigerian nationals ever captured Hillbrow or banned South Africans from the area.

A post shared on X formerly Twitter claiming that Nigerians captured Hillbrow and banned South Africans is FALSE.

The user claims that Hillbrow was previously taken over by Nigerians who declared South Africans would never enter, but have now been entirely cleared out following recent protests.

Evidence:

Historical records and local reporting confirm that Hillbrow was never captured by foreign nationals, nor was an entry ban ever placed on South African citizens.

The South African Government News Agency has previously documented Hillbrow as a integrated, cosmopolitan neighborhood where local and foreign nationals co-exist and run businesses together. 

Daily Maverick published a live updates tracker showing that the March and March movement held demonstrations that moved toward the Hillbrow Police Station. They reported that while storefronts shut down and protesters marched through the streets, the area remained a functioning, law enforced zone and was never permanently cleared out or abandoned.

Whicob News investigated a claim posted on X (formerly Twitter) alleging that Nigerian nationals captured Hillbrow and banned South Africans from entering the area 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/