Pretoria News editor Piet Rampedi apologises for his '10 babies' story
Loading player...
Pretoria News editor Piet Rampedi has apologised to his colleagues for the damage his story on SA’s so-called “Thembisa 10” babies did to Independent Media’s reputation.
Two weeks ago, Rampedi broke the “story” of how Gosiame Sithole had “given birth to 10 babies at a Pretoria hospital”. But almost immediately suspicions were raised as health officials in Gauteng said they were unable to verify or confirm the births, which would have been a world record.
In the interim, the publication — and its online platform IOL — doubled down on the story, continuing to profess its accuracy and, at one stage, saying that health authorities were part of a cover-up.
In a letter to Independent Media’s editor-in-chief Aneez Salie, Rampedi apologises for how the story was handled — but also accuses other media houses and journalists of scrutinising the story simply because he wrote it and because it was published by an Independent group title.
Two weeks ago, Rampedi broke the “story” of how Gosiame Sithole had “given birth to 10 babies at a Pretoria hospital”. But almost immediately suspicions were raised as health officials in Gauteng said they were unable to verify or confirm the births, which would have been a world record.
In the interim, the publication — and its online platform IOL — doubled down on the story, continuing to profess its accuracy and, at one stage, saying that health authorities were part of a cover-up.
In a letter to Independent Media’s editor-in-chief Aneez Salie, Rampedi apologises for how the story was handled — but also accuses other media houses and journalists of scrutinising the story simply because he wrote it and because it was published by an Independent group title.
