Pretoria - The Presidency has removed fake pages on Facebook, put up by imposters claiming to speak on behalf of the man holding the highest office in the land, President Jacob Zuma.
"President Zuma does not have a personal Facebook account and is reachable through the Presidency Facebook page and his personal Twitter account only. Any supposed 'Jacob Zuma' page on Facebook is fake and run by imposters," said his office on Sunday.
While joining the social network movement has undeniable communication benefits, the Presidency concedes there are many challenges, including the prevalence of fake accounts.
Here's how to spot the real from the fake: the official Twitter accounts of The Presidency have a blue tick next to the user name to indicate they have been verified by Twitter.
Currently there are five social media accounts that represent The Presidency. These are the following:
1. Facebook: The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa - http://www.facebook.com/PresidencyZA
2. Twitter: The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa - http://twitter.com/PresidencyZA / @PresidencyZA
3. Twitter: President Jacob G. Zuma http://twitter.com/SAPresident / @SAPresident
4. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/PresidencyZA
5. Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/presidencyza
"In addition to this the website of The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa is http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/. The official social media accounts of The Presidency can also be accessed from the website," said the Presidency.
The Presidency welcomed the growing interest in its social media accounts and said it would continue to use these to reach the public.