The Independent Media has apologised to the University of KwaZulu Natal lecturer whom they revealed as being one of the three people behind the X account, Goolam. This comes only hours after Mohammed Yacoob Vawda demanded an apology from the media house and former defence minister, Lindiwe Sisulu.
UNVEILING GOOLAM
The X account has been exposing, criticising and sometimes insulting politicians. During a media launch of the Unmasking Project by Independent Media on Monday, owner Dr. Iqbal Surve, said his publications identified Mohammed Yacoob Vawda and two others, including a woman in the presidency, as the culprits behind the account.
"Today we can reveal the identity of this person behind @goolammv. The person behind this account is Mohammed Yacoob Vawda, a 37-year-old male from Durban, associated with the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He owns a PhD and is also known as a stand-up comedian. He is also a radio personality of some sort. By his own account, he has multiple personalities," Surve said.
Vawda denied the accusations and said that the last time he used X was over seven years ago. In a video shared on social media on the same day, Vawda said he was falsely accused and that he was not involved in politics. "This is weird and ridiculous," he said. Vawda also said that he feared for his life and that he was scared as he had received death threats. ANC veteran and former minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, who was at the launch also confirmed that their investigations in the past discovered that a woman who worked at President Ramaphosa's office in the communication department was behind the account. The Presidency has since denied the allegations.
DEMANDING AN APOLOGY
In a letter of demand by Vawda's lawyers today, it said: "Our client is not behind the @goolammv account on X. He is neither affiliated with nor knows the individual behind that account. Our client last used his X account seven years ago, on 12 December 2017. Our client has suffered harm in the form of publications on social media calling upon the University of KwaZulu-Natal to explain their affiliation with a 'racist', anonymous messages telling our client to 'go back to India' and publications of our client's employment address being shared. These attacks on our client were directly incited by your press conference and related publications." Part of the letter read, "We further demand that the above mentioned retractions, apologies and live broadcast of the press conference be published before the close of business on 17 July 2024, failing which our instructions are to institute urgent application proceedings against you in the High Court".
APOLOGISING
IOL chief executive officer, Viasen Soobramoney, said in a statement there was a mistake in the investigation that was presented by the media house on Monday. "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," Soobramoney said. "This error resulted in the inadvertent and incorrect identification of a UKZN lecturer and comedian as the person behind the account. For this, we unreservedly apologise to Mohamed Yacoob Vawda, his family and friends, our fellow reporters and to the South African public,' he added.
