“The more things change…”: From Joe Latakgomo to deepfakes

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Insidious strategies

On Sunday, South Africa lost one of its most colourful and campaigning voices in media, Joe Latakgomo. In 1997, he told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about a subtle but effective form of harassment under apartheid: telephone calls that appeared legitimate, sometimes claiming to come from Tanzania or Zambia (allies to the ANC and Umkhonto we Sizwe), delivering false information. Publish it, and a journalist risked discredit. The tactic was designed to control narratives and punish truth-telling, a strategy as strategic as it was insidious.

Today, the mechanics have changed, but the strategy persists. Generative AI and deepfakes allow malicious actors to fabricate videos, voices, and documents at scale. Reporters Without Borders recently documented 100 deepfake cases across 27 countries, finding that 74% of attacks targeted women journalists, often coupled with harassment. False information spreads faster than ever, and reputations — personal and organisational — are once again on the line.

Media Freedom

Sowetan founding editor Joe Latakgomo has passed away

Karabo Ledwaba  20 hours

Popular culture reflects these concerns as well. One of my current favourite series on Apple TV, The Morning Show, explores how Jennifer Aniston’s character Alex Levy becomes the target of a deepfake video, illustrating the stakes in a world where even trusted figures can be undermined by fabricated content. Credibility, once lost, is difficult to reclaim, whether you are a public figure, a journalist, or a business leader.

She is effectively suspended from continuing with her on camera work and she passionately exclaims in the famous Aniston mannerism: "You're silencing me for something I did not do?"

South Africa is not immune to deliberate disinformation using deepfakes. In 2025, SABC broadcaster Oliver Dickson and renowned medical practitioner Prof. Salim Abdool Karim were targeted by the technology, falsely depicted in a fabricated interview in which dangerous claims about the Covid-19 vaccine were made. This had the potential to distort public discourse and weaken trust in both the media and scientific expertise.

Mitigating

The seriousness of this issue is highlighted by the fact that one of the world’s most respected news organisations is investing in technical defences. The BBC’s Research & Development team has been developing computer vision systems to analyse images and video to flag deepfake content, recognising that automated detection must become part of the newsroom toolkit. A modern echo of Latakgomo’s warning about the dangers of trusting appearances.

While making calls to other sources once allowed Latakgomo and his peers to verify information, today’s fast-moving digital landscape has complicated that process, particularly when anyone with a phone and an internet connection can present themselves as a reporter and publish instantly — often in the race to be first or to deliberately misinform.

Latakgomo’s experience reminds us that attacks on credibility are not new; they evolve with technology. Technical safeguards, editorial protocols, and media literacy must work in tandem. The more things change, the more they stay the same... and the responsibility to safeguard truth endures.