Barack Obama did not mince his words during his keynote address at the 16th annual Nelson Mandela Lecture.
The former US president used the opportunity to lambast politicians who lie, calling out the "utter loss of shame" among politicians who "just make stuff up".
"We see it in the growth of state-sponsored propaganda. We see it in internet fabrications. We see it in the blurring of lines between news and entertainment.
"We see the utter loss of shame among political leaders where they're caught in a lie and they just double down and lie some more," he told the 15 000-strong crowd at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
#Obama warns about state propaganda and a restricted media urging us not to reject fact simply because it is politically inconvenient.#MandelaLecture#Mandela100 pic.twitter.com/OKG6BIYyqj
— POWER 98.7 (@Powerfm987) July 17, 2018
Obama's eloquent speech set the tone for the centenary celebrations of Tata Madiba's birth on 18 July.
