• The South African government has noted News24’s latest exposé on Twatterbaas, a popular Twitter account that often spreads misinformation about South Africa.
• It says that law enforcement will investigate incidents of “racist views, hate speech, and false information” related to the account.
• This is not the first time News24 has exposed popular accounts that recklessly spread fake news.

The South African government says that it “notes” a recent report from News24 that claims to expose X user @twatterbaas who goes by the handle Boer on social media.

Sebastiaan Jooste, the owner of the account, is responsible for adding to the increasingly popular misinformation campaign on the increasingly right-wing friendly former Twitter, X about the country’s race relations and the state of white Afrikaaners locally.

While the account portrays itself as being owned by a white farmer, the News24 report (paywall) alleges that this isn’t true and Jooste is in fact a guesthouse manager who lives in Gordon Bay in the Western Cape. The report suggests that Jooste denied being the owner of the @twatterbaas account when first confronted by reporters, but it was later confirmed to be true by his lawyer.

The account is a noted purveyor of the white genocide narrative in South Africa and for being popular with not just local right-wingers, but internationally as well. His tweets have been shared by Elon Musk, who follows him, and he may have directly contributed to US President Donald Trump’s current negative attitude about South Africa.

“Government has noted media reports which claimed that Mr Sebastiaan Jooste, ‘a 46-year-old former farmer’, is behind the social media account “Boer” (@twatterbaas) on X (formerly Twitter) which has been spreading racist views, hate speech, and false information,” a government spokesperson said.

“Appreciating that law enforcement agencies are continuing to investigate incidences of misinformation, the Government strongly condemns deliberate acts of misinformation and promotion of racial hatred.”

Jooste often posts about being landowner, but News24’s investigation claims that he doesn’t own land and the pictures he often posts are of his parents’ farms. His parents also own the guesthouse where he is employed.

While News24 has received significant backlash from followers of @twatterbaas and noted right-wing accounts following the exposé, it has yet to bend to any pressure or threats. This is also not the first time that the publication has exposed popular Twitter accounts which freely spread misinformation.

In 2019, the publication revealed the true identity of the owner of the Man’s Not Barry Roux account was a 27 year old Zambian blogger. The account was noted for recklessly feeding fake news to its hordes of followers simply because its owner felt like it.

The South African government reiterates that spreading fake news is a criminal offense.