South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa issues warning over impersonation scams

The South African presidency has warned people against scammers using President Cyril Ramaphosa’s name to defraud the public.

It said messages purporting to be sent by the president have been circulating.

"The president does not request any funds or endorse any payments or contracts between third parties, whether through websites, adverts, social media, emails, letters, texts or phone conversations," the alert said.

Anyone who has received communications of this nature from the president, or the presidency, should terminate all future contact with the scammers, it added.

The presidency has not revealed any further details about the nature of the scams or how long they have been running but said anyone who had already sent money to the scammers should report to law enforcement authorities.

Cybercrime and cases of impersonation have been on the rise in the country, according to local media reports.