The report suggests that the Western Cape province needs better governance.
Service delivery protests are a mainstay in South Africa, especially in the run-up to the general election, when frustrated residents try to make their voices heard (archived here).
As a result, and coupled with economic challenges, experts predict that South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) will decline dramatically for the first time since taking power three decades ago.
An independent governance report published in March 2024 found that the three best-run local municipalities in South Africa are all in the Western Cape, which is governed by the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).
Cape Town was also named the best metropolis in South Africa for service delivery (archived here and here).
However, the photo circulating on social media was generated by AI.
‘Social commentary’
Using a reverse image search, AFP Fact Check traced the photo to an Instagram post by Thekiso Mokhele, published on April 21, 2024 (archived here).
This message indicates that the image was generated by AI.
“’SERVICE DELIVERY’ Ai Art Photography by @thekiso_mokhele,” the caption reads.
The report shows other roads in South Africa riddled with potholes.
Contacted AFP Fact Check, Mokhele confirmed he had created the images using AI tools, calling them “social commentary.”
“We need services, especially in underdeveloped communities in our country,” he told AFP Fact Check.
The AI artist made headlines in 2023 when he created art from the remains of a methane gas explosion that tore through the road of a street in Johannesburg’s central business district (archived here and here).
As some users pointed out in the comments section of the misleading Facebook post, capturing Table Mountain from that vantage point would be impossible; the photographer should be in the Atlantic Ocean.
South Africans will vote in the municipal, provincial and national elections on May 29, 2024. The result could bring about the biggest political change in three decades, with the ruling ANC at risk of losing its parliamentary majority (archived here).
