Social media is abuzz right now with thousands of tweets championing a student known only as Phindile who allegedly hacked the IT panels of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and gave herself and 200 other students distinctions.
Who is Phindile and why is Twitter looking for her?
As reported by The Citizen, tweeps have launched a search for Mzansi’s latest national hero, known only as Phindile. The story of the UJ student’s hacking scheme was first published by a publication called the Galant Post, a satirical news site, in 2019.
The story was then repurposed by another parody site Hitng Info, claiming that Phindile hacked UJ’s website and awarded herself with two distinctions on two modules she had apparently been struggling with.
Further investigations found that she did not do it for her self only. She edited marks for 200 other students who were having problems passing their modules, They probably thought it was a miracle. The university is busy trying to reach a final decision on whether they can cancel the degrees issued with marks that were edited by Phindile,” the reports alleged.
University of Johannesburg discards story as fake news
For some reason, this old news found its way onto Twitter’s timeline on Monday evening, sparking a trend where Phindile has been getting nothing but love for the alleged criminal act she committed.
UJ has been forced to issue a statement on the allegations and in a tweet, the tertiary categorically discarded the reports as fake news.
“UJ has noted a report peddling misinformation disguised as legitimate news. The report, which was published on a news satire/parody site, is FALSE! Sadly, many readers have been misled to believe that it is real news. It is FAKE news.” the tertiary institution wrote.
This has not stopped tweeps from fanning the flames around this fake story. These are some of the hilarious reactions to the fake news.
