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Piet Rampedi, driving force behind ‘Tembisa 10’ decuplets story, resigns as Pretoria News editor
Piet Rampedi
PHOTO: Facebook/Mahasha Rampedi
- Piet Rampedi has resigned as Pretoria News editor.
- Rampedi’s resignation will be effective from 1 February.
- Although he revealed a lot through his investigative stories in the course of his career, he was best known for the Tembisa decuplets story.
Pretoria News editor Piet Rampedi has resigned.
According to an internal Independent Media email, Rampedi’s resignation will be effective from 1 February.
In the email, Independent Media editor-in-chief Aziz Hartley did not give reasons for Rampedi’s resignation. He simply thanked Rampedi for his service and wished him well.
“Rampedi has had more than 20 years of mainstream media experience in both print and broadcasting, and has worked for titles and media organisations such as Sunday Times, City Press, The Start and the SABC,” Hartley said.
“Rampedi joined Independent Media in March 2019 as head of its investigative unit. Later that year, he was appointed as deputy editor of the Sunday Independent. In January 2021, Rampedi was appointed editor of the Pretoria News.”
Hartley added that Pretoria News stalwart Kennedy Mudzuli would take over from Rampedi in an acting capacity.
When approached for comment, Hartley told News24:
Ending the working relationship between Independent Media and any member of its staff is an internal matter, not for public consumption and, quite frankly, none of News24’s business.
Rampedi did not respond to a request for comment.
Rampedi is known for his investigative work, which included revealing that Amabhaca King Madzikane II Thandisizwe Diko, the late husband of former Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko, had been awarded tenders to the tune of R125 million by the Gauteng Department of Health to supply personal protective equipment (PPE).
At the time, he also revealed that the Dikos were close friends to then-health MEC Bandile Masuku.
However, he got tongues wagging after writing a story that a Tembisa woman, Gosiame Sithole, had broken a world record by giving birth to decuplets.
READ | Tembisa 10: Public Protector finds claims mom gave birth to decuplets ‘unsubstantiated’
However, after an investigation, Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka found that, on the basis of medical evidence in her possession, Sithole had neither been pregnant with, nor had given birth to decuplets.
In response to Kholeka’s report, Rampedi said her investigation and finding “are deeply flawed and have serious shortcomings”.