Mandela obituary from Wits hits Google

The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), issued a statement today (20 June 2013) apologising for its obituary for former president Nelson Mandela being indexed by Google.

“The University had prepared a statement which was hidden on its systems,” a Wits spokesperson said.

“However, a technical error made this available via the search function on Google. At no stage did the University issue this statement or publish it on its website,” Wits explained.

Wits said that it regrets the mishap and will “take all the necessary steps to get to the root of the technical error and to ensure that the responsible departments are held accountable for this incident.”

Mandela early report of death from DW Twitter apology

DStv was chastised earlier this year by the ANC for airing a show on the Universal Channel called “Remembering Madiba” which gave the impression that Mandela had passed away. Universal issued an apology following the broadcast.

German news agency Deutsche Welle made a similar error earlier this month (June 2013), which they apologised for on Twitter.

A screenshot of the obituary, entitled “Hamba kahle Tata Mandela” is included below:

Wits Mandela obituary

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