Fact-check: Did South African President Ramaphosa Pray with Muslims in a Mosque to Garner Votes? 

Claims: A viral video circulating online and on social media platforms, particularly on TikTok, shows South African President Cyril Ramaphosa participating in Muslim prayers at an outside mosque. The person who posted the video claims that Ramaphosa is doing so to garner votes from the Muslim community.

Full text: In the video, president Ramaphosa was shown struggling to follow the prayer steps alongside his aides, with a mocking voice over laughing in the background.

The text accompanying the video footage reads thus:

“If you thought It’s only our politicians here who do the unthinkable for votes, look at president Ramaphosa of South Africa struggling in a mosque.”

Recall that President Cyril Ramaphosa, a Christian, was recently reelected despite leading the African National Congress (ANC) to its worst election result in 30 years. The ANC fell short of 50% of votes, forcing Ramaphosa to form a power-sharing deal with the Democratic Alliance and two smaller parties to remain in power. 

Ramaphosa, 71, has been South Africa’s president since 2018 and leads the ANC, having previously been an anti-apartheid activist and trade union leader.

Verification: PRNigeria’s fact-check team used keyframe extraction and reverse image search to verify the video’s authenticity. 

The results showed that the one minute 21 seconds video was shared on TikTok, X and on other social media platforms widely in June, 2024.

PRNigeria’s fact-check findings reveal that although President Ramaphosa is a known Christian, he has shown solidarity with the Muslim community over time. 

In a message on his X handle on May 30, 2018, he stated: “I am humbled and honoured to be invited as a guest of the Muslim community for the Ramadan Iftaar programme hosted by President Shaykh Irfaan Abrahams of the Muslim Judicial Council in Cape Town.”

This suggests that Ramaphosa has engaged with the Muslim community, despite his Christian faith.

Additional investigation revealed a photo from May 6, 2021, showing President Cyril Ramaphosa joining the South African Muslim community for an Iftaar evening. The event, themed “We Shall Overcome COVID-19: Giving Thanks, Celebrating our Courage & Unity,” was held at the Athlone Parliamentary Constituency Office in the Western Cape.

The photo shows Ramaphosa engaging with the community, further highlighting his efforts to build bridges with different religious groups. 

Further probing unveiled that President Ramaphosa has been seen engaging with the Muslim community on various occasions and not necessarily election circles, as evident in these videos here, and here

Meanwhile, further investigation revealed that the viral video is not a recent event, but rather an incident that occurred in early April 2024 during which Mr Ramaphosa actually prayed with the Muslims faithful. The video, mislabeled as “President Cyril Ramaphosa was confused during Eid Mubarak prayers…”

However, PRNigeria’s fact-check investigation found no credible evidence to support the claims that President Ramaphosa’s presence at the mosque was a bid to garner votes or curry favor with the Muslim community, as alleged in the statement: “If you thought it’s only our politicians here who do the unthinkable for votes, look at President Ramaphosa of South Africa struggling in a mosque.”

Conclusion: Following a thorough investigation by PRNigeria fact-check team, it has been established that the claims surrounding South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s participation in Eid prayers at a mosque have been misrepresented and are being shared with a false narrative.

PRNigeria fact-check team therefore concludes that the speculation that President Rampahosa attended a muslim prayer service for electionering purposes are baseless and unsupported by insufficient evidence.

By PRNigeria