PARTIALLY FALSE: Video of man attacked near ambulance in Lehae was not a xenophobic attack, police say
By Mophethi Mabeba
A Facebook post claims a sick man was dragged out of an ambulance and beaten by South Africans who accused him of being a foreign national.
The Facebook post, which was shared by The Day Star on 25 July 2026, contains a video which is captioned “HEARTBREAKING: A sick man was dragged out of an ambulance and brutally assaulted by a group of South Africans who accused him of being a foreign national.” It says the attack “has sparked outrage and renewed concern over xenophobic violence in South Africa.”
Rising Sun Newspapers reported on 23 July 2026 that the incident happened in Lehae Phase 3 on Sunday, 12 July 2026. It describes a 22-year-old man accused of raping a young woman who was allegedly assaulted by a crowd while on an ambulance stretcher bed, with police present. The article says the scene was captured in a widely circulated video.
SAPS Johannesburg district spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mpho Tshetlhane said police responded to a vigilantism complaint and found an ambulance surrounded by community members. According to SAPS, the community members had assaulted the man “after being accused of raping a 22-year-old woman.” Police rescued him, took him to a medical facility under guard, and arrested him on a rape charge after treatment. Neither the article nor the SAPS statement mentions xenophobia or nationality as a motive.
The post also leaves out key context. It calls him a “sick man” and does not mention he was a rape suspect, and it says he was “dragged out of an ambulance” while the article describes him on the stretcher with the ambulance surrounded. The assault itself is also still alleged, and police are investigating it alongside the rape case. SAPS has warned that vigilantism is a criminal offence.
The post is partially false because the assault on the man is real, but the claim that it was a xenophobic attack is contradicted by police, and the post leaves out why the crowd confronted him.
Verdict: PARTIALLY FALSE
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