OUR BIG APOLOGY TO GARETH
SORRY, GARETH, WE WERE FED A PACK OF LIES
OUR front page story last Sunday contained several assertions which have subsequently been found to be untrue.
The front page headline read: “Gareth’s Black Babe” with the teaser “Lovebirds: Miemie Seleka is expecting Idols Judge Gareth Clif f’s baby”.
The page 3 headlines were: “Cliff smitten with ‘ bundu girl’ – “Stage set for arrival of his ‘ little idol’”.
The story, featured on Page 3, named among other things a mysterious woman called Miemie Seleka who was pregnant with Cliff’s baby.
The story also alleged the two are live-in-lovers.
Following publication of the story, Cliff complained to the SA Press Ombudsman and the Public Editor that “the article is manifestly untrue, inaccurate and scurrilous”.
In his complaint, Cliff further submitted that there is
“not one iota of truth in the entire article...”
“I can confirm that I do not know the woman mentioned in the article (I am not in a relationship with her, I do not live with her and I have not impregnated her), nor have I been approached for comment by the journalist in question, and that every single paragraph appears to have been fabricated to create sensation.
“Even the supposed quote taken from my radio show on Friday is completely made up,” said Cliff in his complaint submitted to Press Ombusdman Joe Thloloe.
Following Cliff’s complaint, a Sunday World investigation revealed that the whole story and all the claims contained therein are indeed untrue.
It has turned out that the whole story was a well orchestrated plot that appears to have been deliberately planted to cause mischief. Even the telephone number the reporter used to attempt to call Cliff was fictitious – it was supplied by the source who gave us the story.
We can also reveal that the main source for the story was none other than Seleka herself, in cahoots with her “friend” Lulu Dlulane, who was the second source to corroborate the “love relationship”.
We are revealing both Seleka and Dlulane’s identities as sources because we are under no ethical obligation to protect untruthful and malicious sources such as Seleka and co.
We are still investigating Seleka’s motive as we are convinced that she was not acting alone in imparting this mischievous information to Sunday World.
All indications are that she acted in cahoots with other mysterious people whose motive is unknown to us.
What is, however, known to us is that the plot appears to have been well orchestrated, with Seleka being used as a courier of this disinformation.
In view of the above, we retract the story and apologise to Cliff for the harm and embarrassment the story might have caused. The story has also been removed from our website.
See also editorial comment on page 15.