South Africa: City Does Not Care If It Is Wrong As Long As No One Else Knows It

opinion

When the Madlingozi family in Mfuleni extended their shack without authorisation, the City of Cape Town removed the extensions, amidst a dispute over the facts. Jared Sacks argues that the City presented its position without checking the facts.

When an authority repeats a statement over and over, it becomes convincing. This is called proof by repeated assertion and it often does not matter where the truth lies or if there is evidence to back it up. Rather, what becomes important is that the authoritative voice makes such statements over and over again with an air of conviction thereby conveying what psychologists call the illusion of truth.

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