Check a Claim, Follow the Case: Using the Record Every Week

Someone in a family group sends this: "A serial killer has murdered 12 women in Kempton Park." No link. Maybe a screenshot of a headline. You want to know if it's true before you pass it on, and you don't want to read eleven articles to find out.

Part one got your assistant connected to the record. This is what that's for.

Check a claim

Paste the sentence and ask the assistant to check it against Kempton Watch. Here is what came back on 5 October.

That one sentence contained three claims, and the assistant took them apart. It checked the number against the list of published counts. It checked the place against the register of where each woman was found. It checked "serial killer" against every statement officials have made about linkage. Twelve: yes, that's the police count. Kempton Park: no. The register places the police count's twelve across Ekurhuleni, and probably one in Soweto; no official list confirms which twelve. Serial killer: nobody official has said so, and they've been asked many times.

The honest answer to the forward is "partly". That's usually the honest answer.

A few ways to ask that work well:

• "Check this against kempton.watch: [paste]. Tell me what's supported, what's disputed, and what's not in the record."
• "Is it true that [claim]? Give me the source either way."
• "What does the record say about [name or place]?"

Three more to try, with what you'll find:

"Itumeleng Kekana was found on 24 August." Disputed. The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) list and The Citizen's own first report say 3 August. The 24 August date comes from a round-up five weeks later, repeated by seven other outlets. The record shows 3 August with an asterisk and keeps both.

"The DA is paying a R500 000 reward." Reported as an offer, and separate. The DA's Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate proposed it. The police have their own R400 000 and said they could not be involved in political matters.

"There have been no arrests." Not supported. Three cases have arrests: the first woman, found in July; the ninth, found in Dawn Park; and the eleventh, found at Mooifontein Cemetery. The other nine in the police count have none.

Follow the case

The other thing people ask me is how to keep up without reading everything. Two questions a week will do it.

"What changed in the record this week?"

The record keeps a log of every refresh: new statements, new arrest items, a count that moved, a row that was merged or corrected. Ask for the week and you get the lot, with the reasons. That last line on the card, "three feeds failed to fetch on every run", is the record being honest about what it might have missed.

"What did the Premier say this week?" Ask about any official by name. On 5 October this gives you Panyaza Lesufi's provincial plan from 1 and 2 October: extra resources for the ten police stations with the most reported rapes, and an admission that more GBV desks are needed, with The Citizen, IOL and Jacaranda FM behind each line.

"When are the next court dates?" As of 5 October: 6 October at Tembisa Magistrate's Court, 12 October at Boksburg Magistrate's Court, and 28 October for the July case. Ask again after each one.

If you don't use an assistant, the same weekly summary goes out by email every Monday. Give an address once on the follow page and leave with one click when you've had enough.

A habit worth keeping

Once a week, two questions: what changed, and is there anything new on the women who are still unidentified. Before you forward anything, one question: check this. That's it. You'll know more than most of the people writing the forwards.

Two caveats

The record refreshes about every two hours, so for the first hour after a big announcement it may be behind. Every answer tells you its "as of" time; look at it.