SPU confirms in a message on the institution’s social media pages, that the tweet is untrue. The institution has included a screenshot of said tweet, which at a quick glance appears to have been posted from a verified twitter account belonging to Tunzi. The tweet does not appear on the timeline of Tunzi’s official twitter account.

SPU spokesperson, Kashini Maistry, says some of the indications the tweet is fake is that it is “riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. It contains the incorrect university twitter handle”. The fake tweet also makes mention of a visit by Miss Universe to the SPU campus in Kimberley during orientation week between January and February 2020 to engage with female students.

SPU STUDENTS: BE AWARE

Sol Plaatje University confirms that this following tweet posted on 24 December which references the University and the offer of funding is untrue. Please ignore its contents. pic.twitter.com/miAUzD8t28

— Sol Plaatje Univ. (@MySPU) December 26, 2019

Tunzi has not only gained prominence for winning the Miss Universe pageant on 8 December 2019 with her natural hair, she has also been lauded for her advocacy on issues like gender equality and gender based violence. In her answer at the Miss Universe pageant which was shared by well-known personalities like media mogul, Oprah Winfrey, Tunzi says “I think the most important thing we should be teaching young girls today is leadership. It’s something that has been lacking in young girls and women for a very long time. Not because we don’t want to, but because of what society has labelled women to be”. She closes off by saying young girls should be given more opportunities to be leaders.

Social media has in the last few years seen a rise in the spread of disinformation and misinformation also known as fake news.

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