Old video of shop looted in South Africa shared as recent in view of coronavirus lockdown

A video of a marauding mob barging inside a shop is being shared on social media. The message shared along with video claims that this is an incident that took place in South Africa during the ongoing lockdown imposed to tackle coronavirus.

Lockdown in South Africa has collapsed. Guys are out on the streets looting shops because of no employment and no money to buy food even police cannot Control the crowds.. pic.twitter.com/ckkFDtmTCw

— Mohammad Kawsar Ahmed (@kawsarhj) April 9, 2020

The video is viral with the same claim on Twitter and Facebook.

Alt News has received multiple requests on its official Android application to fact-check this video.

Old video

Alt News found that this video is not related to the lockdown in South Africa. The same video was posted by a Twitter user on September 5, 2019.

BP garage at boulders mall owned by south African was also looted.

I am not saying anything in particular, was just saying it was also looted. #NoToXenophobia #SayNoToXenophobia #SayNoToXenophobiaAttacks pic.twitter.com/Ukkdk8ZAxf

— Chief Erican (@EricanSA) September 4, 2019

With a keyword search on Google, we also found the video posted by YouTube channel Crime Intelligence & Community Awareness – South Africa on May 29, 2018. It describes itself as the platform “which posts information about crime & other issues in South Africa which affect communities.”

According to the video description, this group was looting Pick n Pay Express located at BP garage in South Africa’s Mitchells Plain city. Furthermore, we found a corresponding report by South African news website News 24 published on May 29, 2018.

“Business owners in Mitchells Plain were devastated to find their premises vandalised on Tuesday morning, following violent protests in the area on Monday evening. The violence erupted after officials demolished informal structures on private land in the Woodlands area. AutoZone, the BP petrol station, Pick n Pay Express and a fish shop located near the settlement were hit the hardest,” reported the website.

However, it may be noted there was an incident of looting at a liquor in Cape Town on April 5.

A video from almost two years ago that took place in South Africa’s Mitchells Plain city is being shared as a shop looted in Cape Town during the ongoing lockdown. South Africa has been under a 21-day lockdown since March 27.