Everson Luhanga
As the dust settles around the media storm surrounding the so-called Tembisa10, the journalist responsible for the fake story has written an apology.
And it’s almost as bad as his story.
Piet Rampedi, the editor of Pretoria News, apologised for his handling of the story in a letter to Independent Media’s editor-in-chief, Aneez Salie.
Except he never actually says sorry for wrongly telling the world that a woman, Gosiame Sithole from Tembisa, had given birth to a record-breaking 10 children.
In fact, Rampedi still believes that the 10 children exist.
“Let me start by stating from the onset that I stand by the fact that Gosiame Sithole was pregnant, and that she did give birth. I don’t doubt it and never have.”
He then goes on to attack the news publications who scrutinised the story, believing that they did so just because he wrote it.
He wrote that the story “provided detractors with an opportunity to cast aspersions on the professional integrity of not only myself but also my colleagues in the group.”
Last week, the national media body, the South African National Editors’ Forum, lambasted Rampedi and Pretoria News for their handling of the story.
Image source: @PietRampedi
