Mpho Moerane

City of Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Moerane
Image sourced via Twitter

Blunder! SABC News FALSELY reports ex-Joburg mayor’s death

The ANC has since clarified that former Johannesburg mayor Mpho Moerane is still alive and in hospital, following a serious car accident

Mpho Moerane

City of Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Moerane
Image sourced via Twitter

The SABC News desk is now catching some heat after incorrectly reporting that former Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Moerane had passed away.

Moerane has been in hospital for more than a week after sustaining some serious injuries in a car accident.

It was just days ago that Moerane’s family had to deny similar rumours that he had died. At the time, the family insisted that he was on the road to recovery and would be discharged soon, but now say his condition is still critical.

ANC’s Pule Mabe: ‘Mpho is still very much alive’

The news of Mpho Moerane’s “death,” as reported by the public broadcaster, sparked a wave of reaction on social media, prompting the ANC and his family to clarify that he was very much still alive.

“First we must start dispelling all of the rumours and all of the things that were going out on social media suggesting Mpho would have passed on. Mpho is still very much alive. We are standing with the family at this moment as the African National Congress. We are here at Milpark Hospital to offer that kind of support,” said ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said to journalists outside Milpark Hospital, where Moerane is being treated.

Meanwhile, social media has been awash with reactions from many taking aim at the SABC for falsely reporting on the former mayor’s passing.

Moerane is currently the leader of the ANC caucus in the City of Johannesburg and heads the regional task team fundraiser. Moerane briefly served as the mayor of Johannesburg, having been elected in October 2021. However, it wasn’t long until the party ceded control of the metro in the 2021 Local Government Elections. His namesake, the DA’s Dr Mpho Phalatse then took over as mayor.

He came into the mayor’s seat after the death of his predecessors. Geoff Makhubo succumbed to COVID-19-related complications, while Jollidee Matongo died in a car accident.

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