On May 16, 2017, the Daily Voice and IOL published an article in which Colin Arendse, a well-known Cape Town anti-corruption activist, was alleged to have been arrested for drunk driving and other offences, including impersonating a police officer.
It was also alleged in the article that Mr Arendse had pending cases of domestic violence against him.
The article was based entirely on an incorrect assumption, made by the journalist, that the person actually arrested (also named Colin Arendse but unrelated to the ANC activist) was the ANC activist and was published erroneously, without being verified for accuracy, and regardless of the fact that Mr Arendse gave a comprehensive response before publication to alert the newspaper to the error.
Mr Arendse subsequently made a claim against the Daily Voice and IOL for defamation arising from the publication of the article.
The Daily Voice and IOL have settled with Mr Arendse by paying him compensation (an amount that the parties agreed to keep confidential) and hereby apologise unreservedly to him for the publication of this article, which we accept was defamatory of him, and for any harm which it caused him, and assure him of the high esteem in which he is held.