POLITICS

Daily Sun should stick to witchcraft and tokoloshes - ANCYL

League notes front page apology, calls for further investigation into story

ANC YOUTH LEAGUE STATEMENT ON THE DAILY SUN APOLOGY TO PRESIDENT JULIUS MALEMA:

The African National Congress Youth League is pleased that finally the Daily Sun has acceded to our demand and instruction that they render a front page apology and retraction of the story they published on Wednesday, the 30th of March 2011. The Daily Sun says on its 1st April edition that they are sorry for telling spreading lies, even after they were cautioned not to do so. The Daily Sun apology is like The Star Newspaper front page apology, noted.

Investigations should continue as to who exactly distorted the story and inserted those quotes, because the original article emailed from Matome Sebelemetsa to the African Eye News Service did not contain those quotes. The ANC Youth League believes that someone in the AENS or The Star Newspaper seem to have created and inserted the quotations on the story and these Newspapers should expose and take action against those who did so. Only an open forensic investigation will expose who the real culprits are.

As for Daily Sun, we humbly advise their editorial team to continue focusing on reports of witch craft and tokoloshes, because reporting about politics will expose them to the humiliation they suffered of having to retract and apologise unreservedly on issues they could have avoided. Political reporting requires stable, reputable and consistent Newspapers, which will be able to justify why and how they covered certain stories. As things stand, there are very few Newspapers in South Africa that have these features and Daily Sun is nowhere close to respectable.

Statement issued by the ANC Youth League, April 1 2011

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