Cape Town — Independent Media was forced to apologise for its blunder after it falsely accused Mohammed Yacoob Vawda as the man behind the X account criticising politicians.
The media group, owned by Dr Iqbal Surve, recently unveiled its new Unmasking Project, which aimed to expose individuals who put South Africa’s democracy at risk. During its first sitting, it revealed Vawda as the man behind the “@Goolammv” X account, known for being critical of politicians and praising President Cyril Ramaphosa.
However, Vawda, a comedian and lecturer at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN) was quick to deny these claims and said the false allegations had led to threats on his life and the safety of his family.
He demanded an apology from the media house for the false allegations before considering further action through his legal representatives, TimesLIVE reported.
Independent Media acknowledged its error in identifying Vawda and issued a public apology on X.
“Initially, our investigations identified two individuals linked to the @Goolammv X account, both named Mohammed Vawda. However, during the press conference, a technical error occurred in that the wrong profile was shared with our content teams and the public,” Viasen Soobramoney, Chief Executive Officer of the IOL platform, said.
“This error resulted in the incorrect identification of a UKZN lecturer and comedian as the person behind the account. For this error, we unreservedly apologise to Mohamed Yacoob Vawda, who was mistakenly identified. As CEO of the IOL platform, I will be taking concrete steps to ensure this does not happen again,” Soobramoney said.
“Both IOL and Independent Media deeply regret the error. As responsible media outlets, we have taken the necessary steps to correct the information that was published. I have also attempted to reach out to Mohamed Yacoob Vawda, the university lecturer and comedian, to convey a personal apology to him.”
IOL and Independent Media on Wednesday provided an update on the ongoing investigation into the @Goolammv X (formerly Twitter) account, revealing significant findings and addressing previous errors in the investigation.https://t.co/mNKLnx911k pic.twitter.com/lR5F3AzosS
— IOL News (@IOL) July 17, 2024
Vawda was not satisfied with the apology and took to his Instagram to issue another letter of demand to Independent Media, saying he would explore further legal avenues.
“You may have noted that Independent Media broadcasted an “apology” to me this afternoon. This was NOT good enough at all, and I have now delivered a Second Letter of Demand to Independent Media, who have also appointed attorneys,” he said.
“I am also exploring other legal avenues to pursue against Independent Media and the other individuals mentioned in my first letter of demand. My legal team has reserved all my rights, including those not yet specifically mentioned, civil, and criminal,” he added.
“I was really hoping that a well-established, prestigious media house like Independent Media would act in good faith, but it appears that I was wrong,” he concluded.
View this post on Instagram.
However, Soobramoney revealed the name of another person who may be behind the Goolam MV account.
“We have established the phone number linked to the @Goolammv account ending with 561. We have established the email addresses linked to the @Goolammv account. We have linked Goolam Mohammed Sulieman Vawda to properties in Winterton and Morningside in KwaZulu-Natal and Tshwane in Gauteng.
“Efforts have been made to obtain comment from the individual identified behind the @Goolammv account, being Mr. Goolam Mohammed Sulieman Vawda, prior to publishing this statement. We have subsequently instructed our attorneys to go ahead with legal proceedings against Goolam Mohammed Sulieman Vawda,” said Soobramoney.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
