First with the news -- even if it’s untrue
Nelson Mandela’s death has not been confirmed, yet those RIP comments are flooding in. Give the man the respect he deserves
RUMOURS of former president Nelson Mandela’s death have been, to paraphrase author Mark Twain, greatly exaggerated.
This week, speculation about the elderly statesman’s demise flooded social networks and some obscure “news” websites.
Officially, Mandela’s health is said to be improving after his condition was described as critical by the Presidency last week.
Leading the pack of gossipmongers was a Las Vegas-based online newspaper, The Guardian Express.
It claimed that news of his death was being covered up by the South African government.
Many mistook the Guardian Express for the reputable The Guardian newspaper in the UK. But the Las Vegas publication proved that it had no more credibility than the US tabloids that focus on alien invasions.
In an article by Laura Oneale, a Johannesburg-based writer, posted on Wednesday, the publication alleged that “sources” confirmed Madiba had died and that his family was being given time to grieve before an official announcement was made.
“There are speculations that the government and family initially did not admit the truth because of the American President Barack Obama’s upcoming trip to South Africa,” Oneale wrote. “President Obama is expected to arrive in South Africa on Friday and it is an important event for the country. Announcing the death of Nelson Mandela could overshadow this historic visit.”
Oneale did not respond to a message seeking her comment. She describes herself on her website as a writer who “presently works as a financial manager in the engineering industry”.
Because of the article, messages of condolence flooded social networks — and the Mandela family and the South African government were forced to denounce the rumours.
In the wake of the speculation, Oneale responded that her alleged source was “‘highly recommend- able but does not want to be named as he or she would lose her job”.
It then transpired that her socalled source was someone working at the SABC.
Oneale also said that when the government announced Mandela’s death, the “weeping and wailing would be a nightmare, the economy will suffer and the different tribes will make a massive drama about his death. They have different ways of preparing and performing funerals here.”
Another of the Guardian Express’s journalists, Michael Smith, wrote a follow-up article on Friday, saying the newspaper “stood by its story” — despite the Presidency and official government spokesmen saying Madiba was improving.
When asked for comment on the Las Vegas-based publication’s reports, presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said: “It doesn’t deserve a comment.”
Shortly after Smith’s “exclusive” report on Friday, The Guardian Express’s site was taken down for more than an hour by hacktivist group Anonymous Africa, which said it targeted the website for its “filthy, profiteering lies”.
“That website is false . . . They create fake news to make money,” Anonymous Africa said.
But the Las Vegas-based publication was not the only one to have got it wrong.
Tennis champion Rafael Nadal recently apologised for tweeting his condolences on Madiba’s death.
Australian politician Gary Gray, the resources minister, told guests attending a Minerals Council of Australia dinner at Parliament House that Mandela had died.
Gray later said: “I apologise unreservedly and am deeply sorry to have relayed what I thought was reliable advice.”
In Amsterdam, the city council observed a minute’s silence to mark Mandela’s death on Tuesday. And just last week the University of the Witwatersrand was forced to apologise after its draft obituary on Madiba was accidentally accessed on its website.
US actor Will Smith, who met Mandela while in SA, tweeted: “Nelson Mandela’s death has not been confirmed, yet those RIP comments are flooding in. Give the man the respect he deserves.”
And some overzealous twits tweeted pictures of US actor Morgan Freeman instead of Mandela’s in their messages of support.
Freeman, who played Madiba in the movie Invictus, tweeted: “Best wishes to my friend and celebrity doppelgänger. A strong recovery from a strong man.”