In the Sunday World edition of August 25, under the headline “Moegoe”, we pilloried lobby group AfriForum as our “moegoe of the week” for not condemning the killing of farm workers in Limpopo.
We also stated as a fact that they had complained about white genocide in South Africa.
We have been alerted that AfriForum had previously brought a similar case about the alleged genocide to the Press Council’s attention and won it; thus, we hereby retract the association of AfriForum with the “white genocide” campaign.
We also stated that AfriForum “refuses to cry foul” about the murder of black people. AfriForum lodged a complaint with the Press Council, arguing that it did not refuse to cry foul.
Deputy Press Ombud Franz Krüger ruled in AfriForum’s favour, stating that the word “refuse” means the organisation declined to do so entirely and ordered Sunday World to retract and apologise for the piece.
Other elements of the complaint were dismissed.
Sunday World apologises to AfriForum for the embarrassment and inconvenience the piece might have caused.
The full ruling is available at www.presscouncil.org.za
