Following the March 2026 Eid al-Fitr celebrations in South Africa, an image purporting to show South African police arresting undocumented Muslims for “praying illegally” in Johannesburg was shared on social media, fanning anti-foreigner sentiment. But the claims are false; the image was generated using artificial intelligence (AI). Police also denied the incident.

“SAPS members in Johannesburg CBD arrested Muslim illegal foreigners while they were praying illegally in South Africa,” reads an X post published on March 21, 2026, the same day South Africa marked the end of Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam.

Shared more than 900 times, the post includes a picture of a group of men, mostly in traditional Muslim attire, entering a Johannesburg police prison truck as officers look on.

AFP Fact Check has previously debunked content published by the account here and here. Much of what is shared by the account disparages foreigners and undocumented migrants.

The claim was also posted on Facebook.

Anti-immigrant sentiments

South Africa remains the continent’s industrial heavyweight, a status that continues to attract migrants despite experiencing a domestic labour crisis (archived here).

While the unemployment rate dipped to 32 percent in 2025, it remains a key driver of anti‑foreigner sentiment in the country, often fuelling local tensions which have periodically turned violent or deadly  (archived here and here).

As reported by AFP, South African police used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse hundreds of anti-immigrant protesters in the coastal city of Durban on March 25, 2026 (archived here).

However, claims that police arrested undocumented Muslims for praying during Eid celebrations are false.

Fabricated image

Online searches failed to yield credible reports matching the information contained in the false posts.

A closer look at the image also shows several anomalies consistent with content generated or manipulated with AI, including distorted hands and feet.

Some of the men also appear to be wearing mismatched shoes, while another seems to be stepping onto invisible stairs.

Further analysis of the image using Hive Moderation, an AI detection tool, found a 99.9 percent probability that it was an AI creation.

A reverse image search revealed that a nearly identical image had been posted on Facebook a day before the claims emerged, alongside a public advisory message regarding police encounters. It makes no mention of Eid or Muslims.

“When you are taken by this leisure vehicle, before you get inside, read what's written outside, because that's where they are taking you to. Call your next of kin and tell them the station written on the vehicle,” reads part of the post.

Notably, the image shows a mixed group of people in casual clothing. However, the police officers and the man wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and red shoes appear in both versions.

The original image is also artificially generated, according to analysis using Google’s SynthID, a tool that detects hidden watermarks in content generated by the company’s AI tools.

However, some parts of the original AI image appear to be real, including the buildings in the background, which we geolocated to Braamfontein, Johannesburg, on Google Maps Street View.

Contacted by AFP Fact Check on March 24, 2026, Gauteng provincial police spokesman Tinswalo Sibeko said that the police were “not aware of the incident and there are no arrests related” to the false claims.