Errors had been made in a news bulletin in which it was stated: “Since April, Renamo –now the 
country’s main opposition party – has carried out attacks on civilian, police, army and infrastructure targets across the country.” To illustrate the violence, archive material was broadcast without identifying it as such. The Respondent also conceded that it was a mistake to have stated that the attacks took place “across the country”.
The Complainant argued that these errors had caused many South Africans to cancel their bookings for the holiday season.
The Tribunal stated that the newsroom would be well advised to double-check, in future, whether material broadcast is archive material or not; if this kind of error is repeated, the Tribunal will be obliged to consider finding against the Respondent.
Ultimately, the Tribunal held that the following information saved the bulletin from a finding against the Respondent: “With Frelimo forces pinning back Renamo to the Gorongosa mountains in the centre of Mozambique … Far away from tourist hubs on the coast.” This limited the situation to the mountains and, in effect, acted as a corrective to the error that had been made earlier in the bulletin.
The complaint was not upheld.