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eNCA sorry for Madiba mistake

Cape Town – The eNCA news channel is doing damage control and apologising after they included old archive file footage of Madiba's wife Graça Machel in a new Nelson Mandela hospitalisation story, in which she says the ailing statesman has "lost his sparkle".

The news channel has taken a dent in the credibility stakes after the old file footage was included in a news story which has gone viral and made headlines worldwide.

On Tuesday the eNCA news anchor Jeremy Maggs of the channel's flagship daily news show News Night, apologised to viewers about the video file footage of Machel which found itself into the story.

In it she said that the frail former South African statesman is "losing his sparkle". The interview with Machel was actually done in 2009 and has no bearing on the recent hospital stay of Mandela in a Pretoria hospital as he's battling a lung and respiratory infection.

Picked up internationally

The embarrassing "sparkle" story on the eNCA was quickly picked up by international news wire services and went global, with the story running in newspapers and on websites around the world, from America to India and the United Kingdom to South America.

"In an eNCA report broadcast last night a clip was included of an interview with Nelson Mandela's wife, Graça Machel. In it Graça Machel spoke of Nelson Mandela's sparkle fading," said Maggs.

"Now eNCA would like to clarify this was from an interview in 2009, and not a current interview. Graça Machel was not responding in any way to Nelson Mandela's current hospital stay," he said.

No press statement

"The eNCA regrets the confusion which may have been caused," Maggs said.

The channel didn't issue a press statement about the apology and didn't explain how or why old video footage from 2009 was included in the story.

Nelson Mandela was admitted to hospital over the past weekend and is currently receiving treatment for a lung infection.

* In an earlier story News24 also incorrectly stated that Machel was interviewed on Monday. News24 apologised for this error.
 
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