Delta, Econet disown social media messages

Elements of regime change were yesterday left eating humble pie after false messages they generated on social media informing employees of two of the country's largest companies not to report for duty were ignored.

The messages, which went viral on platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp, informed employees of Delta Beverages and Econet Wireless not to report for duty yesterday and today because of "looming violence".

Both Delta and Econet have distanced themselves from the politically motivated messages, describing them as a hoax designed to tarnish the image of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed giants.

Futile attempts to bring the country to a standstill flopped yesterday as it was business as usual at Delta, Econet and all other economic giants.

Said Delta's company secretary, Mr Alex Makamure: "It is a fake message as it is not a genuine correspondence from the company. As a company we do not communicate through social media platforms."

Asked how such messages could have gone viral, Mr Makamure said: "We can only speculate on the motive that if the shutdown is endorsed by big companies it will be a success. In communicating we use our broad platforms such as the human resources as well as a service desk where we communicate through internal electronic mail."

Econet Wireless spokesperson Mr Lovemore Nyatsine said the messages were being circulated by malicious individuals who wanted to create a negative image of the corporate sector.

The fake Delta message reads: "We have assessed the situation and found it unsafe for staff to report for work on Wednesday 13 July-Thursday 14 July 2016. Head of departments and maintenance supervisors might be called to report for duty in case of emergencies."

Government recently warned that anyone caught generating or sharing abusive and subversive material on social media will be disconnected from the country's mobile networks.