Zuma slams media for ‘spewing lies’ about fiancee Conco’s fake Twitter account
He would like the story retracted and for an apology to be published, though numerous news sites reported on the account.
Former South African President Jacob Zuma speaks to his supporters after his court appearance in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, July 27, 2018. REUTERS/Rogan Ward
Following a clarification update from News24 on their recent story claiming (incorrectly) that Jacob Zuma’s latest fiancee Nonkanyiso Conco had joined Twitter, former president Jacob Zuma slammed the publication for allegedly not doing their homework.
Along with a link to the article titled “Clarification: Jacob Zuma’s 24-year-old fiancée says the Twitter account in her name is fake”, Zuma tweeted “shouldn’t you have asked her first before spewing your lies?”
He also tagged the writer responsible for the story and the publication before suggesting they retract the story and publish an apology.
Numerous other publications had also incorrectly reported yesterday that the account was owned by Conco.
Shouldn’t you have asked her first before spewing your lies? @Sesona_Ngqaks @News24 there is nothing to clarify, why have you not retracted the story and issued an apology?https://t.co/2t5ozjSjOo
— Jacob G Zuma (@PresJGZuma) January 9, 2019
As previously reported by The Citizen, though the account uses pictures of Conco, tweets about the former president and campaigns for the ANC, it could not be confirmed as hers despite some reports accepting that it was. The pictures were also all old and already in the public domain, so it looked highly questionable.
Conco took to her official Instagram account on Tuesday to denounce the Twitter account by posting a screenshot of a tweet from the account with the word ‘fake’ written across the image in big red letters.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsX4AG9hfAb/?utm_source=ig_embed
Conco was following in her husband’s footsteps, as he has been using his newly established account to debunk stories published about him in major publications.
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