Thulani Khumalo is a South African entrepreneur who operates a spaza shop from his home in Vosloorus. (Facebook)
Thulani Khumalo is a South African entrepreneur who operates a spaza shop from his home in Vosloorus. On 3 May last year, Khumalo took to both social and news media to share that his life was in danger, accusing foreign spaza shop owners of attempting to kill him. Around the time of his outcry, accounts known for perpetrating an anti-immigrant narrative online twisted his outcry to proclaim him dead, alleging that he was killed by “a syndicate of Somalians”. However, as our investigators found, Khumalo is alive, well and “shocked” at the news of his death, despite doing nothing to dispel the rumours.
When Thulani Khumalo took to social media to share how threats were being made on his life, allegedly by foreign spaza shop owners who saw his business as competition, he never imagined that his story would be manipulated to make it seem like he had been killed by “Somali syndicates” — at least that is what he says.
In early May last year, Khumalo shared a message on Facebook, stating that he was being “hunted down” by a man hired to kill him, all because he tried to be a South African spaza shop owner. Prior to this, Khumalo had posted about how he was trying to turn his life around by being self-employed, referring to it as the dream.
Khumalo’s message drew widespread support from government officials and the broader public.
Political parties, he said, offered him “protection in terms of security, telling me they would tell the police to patrol this area regularly”.
“They also offered me funding, for example, the MK party, but this never materialised; it was only for that day. Political parties that visited were the ActionSA and the ANC from Ekurhuleni.”
The message became popular on X, with some accounts alleging that Khumalo had been killed.
Among these are the @Isephara and @joy_zelda accounts, which both stated at different times of the year that Khumalo had been killed by a “syndicate of Somalians”, once on 3 May, about an hour after he claimed that he was being hunted down, and another in August. Both these X accounts regularly post content with anti-foreigner sentiment.
Between May and August, Khumalo was interviewed by City Press. In that article he claimed that, since he had made the Facebook post, the threats stopped. However, he said when interviewed for this article that he is still under threat because “there is always surveillance around my shop”.
The X post from the @ISephara account, Khumalo’s initial Facebook post and the claim made in August 2024 by @joy_zelda can all be seen here:
Speaking to investigative journalist Tabelo Timse, Khumalo alleges that the threats began around March and April last year. This is noteworthy because in March, he posted a picture of himself in what appears to be his spaza shop, including the words “Immense Growth”.
“It started when I saw foreign shop owners casually walking up and down the street daily. Some will approach me to ask how much I am willing to sell this shop [for] or how much rent I want. When I refused [to sell or rent], I noticed people hiding down the street at the second school gate,” he said.
Khumalo’s shop is run out of his garage in a residential area. Hence, in order to verify the threats that he alleges, it would be important to understand the general foot traffic on that street.
He added, “This one time, I saw three guys hiding. Later, I noticed they were walking up
the street, so I went inside the house. These three guys robbed someone who looked similar to me — I think I was the target. So, during the robbery, one robber was shot in the foot and he is the one who said they were looking for me. I don’t know what happened to that guy.”
However, relaying a similar incident to the City Press in June 2024, he claimed that it was his friend who was mistaken for him and shot in the leg.
Khumalo says he went to the police but was told to provide proof of the threats before a case could be opened. He never appears to have provided such proof.
Khumalo says he had no idea that the threats on Facebook would go viral, despite stating, “Vosloorus, please make this trend …” He added that he had to deactivate his social media accounts when allegations of his death surfaced.
“I, and those close to me, including my family, never posted anything about my death. We were all shocked when we saw this account posting and my younger brother replied to those posts that I was alive and that this was fake news. But this person just went on and on about my death, even asking for donations,” he said.
Khumalo still uses the same Facebook account from which he claimed that he was being hunted down and he has not taken the initiative to clarify the false narrative about his death. He says he sees “no need” to clarify that he is alive because people can see that he is active on social media.
“This fake news about my death is also putting my life in danger because I am now exposed.”
In a country where anti-immigrant sentiment is rife and xenophobic attacks continue to be perpetrated, it is important to clarify when misinformation is being generated and spread, even if the clarification favours a perceived “enemy”.
Khumalo has not been killed by so-called Somalian syndicates. Just as he feared for his safety, he also compromised the safety of competing entrepreneurs, who may have had nothing to do with the threats or his “death”.
Khumalo has missed multiple opportunities to come clean and dispel the rumours about his death — the first when he was interviewed by news media a month after his viral post, and the second which presents itself every time he logs in and posts on his account.
Despite not explicitly setting the record straight, criminality against Khumalo cannot be condoned, and we hope that he finds proof to take legal action against those allegedly making threats against his life and business.
Tabelo Timse is a freelance journalist and media consultant and a former investigative journalist at the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism.
Yossabel Chetty is a Researcher at the Centre for Information Integrity in Africa.