October 21 2008
In the article “ANC unlikely to lose sleep over new party“, published on October 15 2008 and received from the South African Press Association, Professor Steven Friedman was incorrectly quoted as saying: “You need half-a-million votes to get a seat in Parliament.”
Friedman has pointed out that half-a-million votes are needed to get 10 seats in Parliament, and not one seat.
September 2 2008
The article “Secret of the ‘lost’ tribe that wasn’t“, sourced from the British Observer and published by the Mail & Guardian Online on June 22 2008, has been found by the Observer to be “misleading”. The newspaper has issued an apology. Read more here.
July 9 2008
Several South African Press Association reports — published by the M&G Online — on the drunken-driving trial of Judge Nkola Motata contained the words “drunken kaffir”, apparently heard in an audio recording of events at the scene of the judge’s accident in Johannesburg in January last year.
It has emerged — as could best be heard from audio recordings available on the internet — that the word “kaffir” could not be clearly heard.
“Pending final verification from official transcripts, Sapa appreciates this having been pointed out, and is happy to set the record straight,” Van der Velden said. “But in the meantime, it is incorrect to say we reported Baird calling Motata a ‘drunken kaffir’.”
The July 2 Sapa news item — also published by the Mail & Guardian Online — did not report that the transcript showed Baird calling Motata a “drunken kaffir” .
The report, in fact, said the transcript showed Motata challenging Baird on apparently (in the Motata’s view) calling him a “drunken kaffir”. It read: “In the first recording heard in court, Judge Motata accused Baird of calling him a ‘drunken kaffir’.
“‘What did you [Baird] say when I got out of my car? You said this drunken kaffir,’ the court heard.”
The M&G Online has published the explanation provided by Sapa, and has removed the phrase from the original Sapa reports to avoid any further confusion.
June 13 2008
In the article on the Coca-Cola South Africa Schools Leak Repair Project (Greening the Future, June 6), Mike Rabe was quoted as project manager, giving the impression that he works for Coca-Cola SA. He is in fact project manager for Re-Solve Consulting, which was contracted by Coca-Cola SA to do the project. There are no Coca-Cola SA-funded projects in Ethekwini, Buffalo City and Polokwane, as reported. We regret the errors.
May 30 2008
In the February 22 edition (‘Big stink over R9bn Coega prawn farm” Page 2) we erroneously printed that SeaArk Africa’s international business associate David Wills, was sentenced to six months in jail in 1999 after pleading guilty in a Maryland court to one count of embezzlement. Wills was never imprisoned, but sentenced to six months community service. According to his lawyer the ‘fine” of $67 800 he paid was not a penalty, but his contribution to the cost of the prosecution. We regret the error.
On page 6 of the National Science and Technology Awards supplement the photograph of Category K winner Mark Horan should have accompanied his profile ‘Showcasing science for society”. The caption should have read: “Demystifying science: Mark Horan.”
May 23 2008
In the May 2 edition (Page 19), in the Verbatim strap, we printed that Cristiano Ronaldo was involved in a sex scandal involving three transvestite prostitutes. The quote by Rio de Janeiro police superintendent Carlos Augusto Nogueira refers to the Brazilian Ronaldo. Any imputation to the contrary is regretted and we apologise unreservedly.
May 16 2008
In the May 2 edition (Page 8) we quoted unnamed sources speculating that ‘Chinese Air Cargo company MK Air might be involved in transporting the An Yue Jiang‘s arms to Zimbabwe”. We accept that this claim was inaccurate and false. MK airlines has told us that it is in fact a British-registered company with strong and proud links to the African continent and that it played no role in transporting weapons to Zimbabwe. Any imputation to the contrary is regretted and we apologise unreservedly.
May 14 2008
The article “HIV-positive for 23 years and counting” (December 1 2006) stated: “When asked what it’s like to be the only person on the entire planet to have lived with HIV for 23 years, to be a universal anomaly, to have successfully created a symbiotic relationship with one of the world’s most feared diseases, Patient ponders for a while.”
Though it is made clear elsewhere in the article, David Patient is not the world’s longest-lived HIV survivor. The article has been corrected.
May 9 2008
Last week in the story Probe into dodgy ‘immune booster’ the Mail & Guardian referred to one of the Imuniti directors, Jan Louw, as Jan Gouws. We apologise for the error.
April 17 2008
The article “Denel needs another R1,7bn for turnaround strategy” (April 16 2008) reporting outgoing Denel CEO Shaun Leibenberg as saying the company still needed R1,7 billion promised by the government to complete its turnaround.
Liebenberg has pointed out that he never said the R1,7 billion was promised by the government. In fact, Denel had made an initial request to the government for R5,2-billion to turn the company around — of which it had received only R3,5 billion.
February 15 2008
Last week the Mail & Guardian referred to Solidarity’s Solvita as the first medical scheme set up by a trade union in South Africa. Samwumed’s Neil Nair has pointed out that this claim is incorrect and that other unions have set up their own non-profit medical schemes for their members.”
January 29 2008
The article “Missing Cessna pilot found by volunteers” (January 6 2008) stated that rescue volunteers logged “GPRS coordinates”. This should have read “GPS coordinates”.
January 15 2008
The article “Star of David in the German armed forces” (January 10 2008) stated: “About 100 000 Jews fought for Germany during World War II. Thousands were decorated for bravery and 12 000 were killed in action.” This should have read “World War I”.