Sunday Times apologises to ANC for inaccurate article

The Sunday Times has apologised to the ANC for a story it published last month headlined, "ANC must repay Kebble cash".

At the time, the SA Press Association (Sapa) reported on the main points of the Sunday Times story, and this report was subsequently used by a number of other media houses.

The African National Congress lodged detailed complaints about the original and subsequent reports with the Press Ombudsman.

On Sunday, the Sunday Times corrected its report.

Headlined, "Apology to ANC" on page two, the Sunday paper said: "On June 1, we published a story under the headline 'ANC must repay Kebble cash' which contained a number of inaccuracies, including the headline.

"The story misconstrued the implications of an unsuccessful court action launched by the ANC to expunge a R14.4 million claim by the deceased estate of Brett Kebble against the Kebble Buitendag Investment Trust (KBIT).

"The story incorrectly stated that the ANC had been ordered to pay back R14.4 million after an unsuccessful bid to hold onto donations from the slain mining magnate. The story also said the ANC had previously been instructed to repay more than R600,000.

"In fact, proceedings by the trustees of the trust against the ANC seeking repayment of R627,286.50 (and not R14.4 million) have yet to be heard and no court has yet determined that the ANC is liable to repay any donations.

"The high court action seeking expungement of the claim is the only court action instituted by the ANC in respect of donations it received from Kebble.

"We apologise to the ANC for the inaccurate information published," reads the Sunday Times apology.

Sapa editor Mark van der Velden said the agency lifted the main points of the original Sunday Times report in good faith on the basis that the information published was in the public interest.

Sapa erred in not promptly following up further on the issue with reaction from the ANC.

Sapa regrets the inconvenience the process caused the ANC.