Pretoria, South Africa – Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in for another term as South Africa’s president on Wednesday, June 19.
The 71-year-old took the oath of office before chief justice Raymond Zondo in the Nelson Mandela amphitheatre at the 111-year-old Union Buildings in the capital, Pretoria.
Several heads of state attended the event, including Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Angola’s Joao Lourenco, the Republic of the Congo’s Denis Sassou Nguesso, and Eswatini’s King Mswati III.
Subsequently, a tweet by a prominent Nigerian opposition figure, Aisha Yesufu, criticising President Tinubu has sparked an online exchange with the presidency.
Yesufu in a post on her verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday, June 19, claimed that Tinubu was disgraced and snubbed by Ramaphosa at the South African leader’s inauguration ceremony.
Sharing a YouTube video, Yesufu wrote:
“My people say pikin wey no hear word for house, na for outside dem go disgrace am! Tinubu disgraced once again In South Africa.”
As of the time of publishing this report, Yesufu’s post has garnered 268,000 views, 667 replies, 1,200 reposts, and more than 3,000 likes.
In the same vein, another well-followed X user, @MissPearls, posted the video in question with the caption:
“Ashiwaju looking lost as Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa ignores him while thanking others for gracing his inauguration!”
Some other netizens also put up the claim.
Considering the clip trended on X, a fact-checking platform, Dubawa decided to scrutinise it.
Following its scrutiny, the media platform concluded that the claim that President Tinubu was ignored by President Ramaphosa is false.
It ruled:
“The video clip circulating online does not capture the full context of the event. Ramaphosa did acknowledge and greet President Tinubu and other guests after the National Anthem was taken.”
