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A Facebook user, Joe Anim, on Monday, July 20, 2026, made a post with images that showed that the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) on one of its news programmes had a ticker that reads: “Ghana’s Ebola cases rise to 2344 & 930 deaths,” although Ghana had not reported any cases of the disease.
Screenshot by author via Facebook/ Joe Anim
The information in the SABC news ticker is false.
What is Ghana’s actual Ebola status?
Ghana’s Ministry of Health has repeatedly and publicly confirmed that no Ebola case has been recorded in the country. In a July 21 statement responding to the SABC incident, the ministry reiterated that Ebola disease is not present in Ghana. In a May 19, 2026, advisory, Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh stated that the current outbreak is confined to parts of Central and East Africa — specifically the DRC and Uganda — and does not extend to Ghana or the rest of West Africa.
Where did the 2,344 cases and 930 deaths figure come from?
A Google search for these exact figures related to the Ebola outbreak returned multiple news websites, such as here, here, and here, that report these exact numbers as the confirmed cases and total number of deaths, respectively. All the reports cite DRC’s health ministry.
That these numbers exactly match what was written on SABC’s news ticker shows that it did not originate as a genuine SABC report about Ghana, but very likely a misattribution by SABC.
What does the timestamp on the images say
The 22:47 CAT timestamp in the top-left corner places the broadcast inside ‘The Late Edition’, SABC News’ weekday bulletin block that runs from 21:00 to 23:00 and is anchored by Mfundo Mabalane and Mpho Sithole. Reviewing the news item displayed on the screen at that timestamp shows that the broadcast was on Monday, July 20, 2026.
How is the report being received online?
Since its wide circulation online, the post has received largely negative but mixed reactions. Reading several posts on the matter, including this and this, it appears that three theories are circulating about the image. First, that SABC made a genuine editorial error. Second, the news ticker was deliberately published by SABC to disparage Ghana amid the ongoing immigration tension between the two countries. Third, a third party fabricated the image to inflame tensions between South Africans and Ghanaians.
SABC issues apology
While intent cannot be definitively determined, DUBAWA notes that SABC has issued a retraction and apology, describing the incident as an instance of incorrect attribution.
SABC News anchor Thembekile Mrototo, who read the statement, said: “SABC News incorrectly attributed Ebola statistics to Ghana in our news scroll that is at the bottom of your screen. This happened during a broadcast last night. Well, SABC News says it regrets the error and apologises for any distress or inconvenience caused.”
