Another fake news lead from the Cape Times
3 April 2017
The Cape Times has published yet another fake news lead today in an attempt to dupe its readers into more unsubstantiated dishonesty.
The newspaper claims that Premier Helen Zille has been charged with racism by the Democratic Alliance, when no such charge exists. The report further claims that the Premier could not have tweeted an apology because she was on a plane. The Premier had tweeted an apology after a series of tweets about her visit to Singapore “which may have come across as a defence colonialism”, confirming that this was not the case.
Without any proof, the Cape Times has published a fabricated accusation that someone else had tweeted an apology through the Premier’s twitter account.
The newspaper has proven once again that it has abandoned all interest in truthful, objective reporting. The printing of outright fabrications as a frontpage lead, shows how emboldened the Independent Group has become after withdrawing its titles from Press Ombudsman processes.
Without the Press Code to guide ethical reporting, the Cape Times is simply resorting to publishing fake news in a show of total disregard for the intelligence of its readers.
Today’s latest fabrication, follows an 8 month long smear campaign against Premier Zille, with the newspaper falsely claiming she had hired a “spy”, before being stopped in its tracks by the Press Appeals Council. The Independent Group then withdrew its membership of the Press Council.
Recently, the paper falsely claimed in an editorial that Premier Zille had little involvement in exposing the killing of Steve Biko, yet another fabrication without any substance. The paper also recently led with a distorted quote from the Premier, for which they were forced to apologise on their front page the following day.
We will continue to expose the distorted and unethical reporting of the Cape Times, and its regular dishonesty with its readers.
Issued by Michael Mpofu, Spokesperson for Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, 3 April 2017
