A viral WhatsApp message claims drug-laced candy is being handed out to children at South African schools. It is nearly identical to a long-debunked global hoax dating back to at least 2007 – and still lacks any evidence to support it, writes Andrew Thompson.
A WhatsApp message, marked “forwarded many times” and accompanied by an automated fact-check link, is once again doing the rounds in South Africa.
It urges parents – and “even those without kids” – to be on high alert for a “very scary thing going on in the schools right now”: a supposed drug called Strawberry Quick, allegedly disguised as fizzy candy and handed out to children.
The message claims the drug looks like Pop Rocks, smells like strawberry, and comes in flavours including cola, cherry, chocolate, peanut butter, grape and orange. It warns that children are ingesting it by mistake, thinking it’s candy, and being rushed to hospital.
It ends with an urgent call to “Please Share To MaXimum” and is signed off by a certain “N P Dlamini, Circuit Manager, Durban West”.
There’s just one problem – actually, several. There’s no evidence to support the claims. There hasn’t been since versions of this started circulating in the late 90s. And the newest message reads less like an official alert and more like something that wouldn’t survive a first-year creative writing class or a halfway competent plagiarism detector.
Same scam, different year
This specific Strawberry Quick rumour has been circulating internationally since at least 2007, with near-identical language and structure. It pops up every few years in a new country – the United States, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia – with only the signature and setting changed to suit the local context.
The South African version simply recycles the original, down to its grammatical wreckage, erratic punctuation, and breathless tone.
In place of a US sheriff or school board, this one invokes a “real” South African official and signs off as a “Circuit Manager” from “Durban West”.
A familiar image often accompanies the message – as the local version currently does. This usually shows bear-shaped sweets in plastic bank bags. A reverse image search shows that this image, too, has been repeatedly used in versions of the hoax around the world and has never been linked to any verified drug seizure or case involving children.
No truth to the drug rumour
If the age and persistent debunking of the long-standing rumour aren’t enough, there are still no verified reports – in South Africa or elsewhere – of children being hospitalised after ingesting flavoured methamphetamine disguised as candy.
In the last two decades, there have been no confirmed incidents of “Strawberry Quick” ever being handed out at schools. And no public warnings, investigations or statements from police, schools, hospitals or health departments that support any part of the message.
What’s true is that the original Strawberry Quick rumour began after reports in the US of pink-coloured meth being seized in isolated cases. But there was no evidence the drug was flavoured, no indication it was linked to children, and no suggestion it was being passed off as sweets.
From there, the story took on a life of its own – copied, translated, and passed along like digital folklore, with each version lazily mimicking the last.
A desperate attempt to go viral
The South African version follows the same formula, with one important tweak: a seemingly real, local name.
The inclusion of a KwaZulu-Natal education official, complete with title and region, is likely a last-gasp attempt at local viral fame by the person who couldn’t be bothered to run a spell-check on the dated hoax, but somehow managed to add local relevance.
Inclusions like these are intended to boost credibility and make the message feel local. But there is no indication that the named person wrote or circulated it – and no reason to believe any education department is behind the alert.
If anything, the message’s formatting alone should raise alarms: multiple spelling errors, mid-sentence capitalisation, and spacing that indicates a lack of understanding of how the space bar actually works are key factors undermining its legitimacy.
Real issues. fake solutions
Its spread through South Africa may be somewhat understandable, given the difficulties some local schools face with legitimate drug-related challenges, and how, in some provinces, incidents involving contaminated or poisonous snacks have resulted in serious investigations.
But this – pink teddybear-shaped meth handed out like sweets to unsuspecting children – is not one of those issues. As with many viral hoaxes, warnings like the Strawberry Quick message distract from real risks and dilute the public’s ability to respond to credible threats. They thrive on fear, not facts – and keep reappearing because they’re easy to share and just plausible enough to spark concern.
This version, though, is lazy even by hoax standards. It offers nothing new, except a bad localisation attempt, a name borrowed for false authority, and a desperate appeal for virality.
*At News24, facts matter. This article was produced by the News24 Fact Check Desk and supported by Truth First. If there is something you’d like us to check out, debunk or uncover, send an email to our desk at debunk@news24.com.
