NB Publishers urge NPA not ‘to shoot the messenger’

NB publishers, the publisher of The President’s Keepers authored by Jacques Pauw, have so far “not been able to establish the nature of the complaints laid earlier this week at the Lyttelton Police Station”.

After news broke out that there is a high and real risk of Pauw being arrested on charges of contravening the Intelligence Act, a National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson was quoted in the media as saying though there hadn’t been a criminal case opened, and only that the police had received “complaints”.

“We are in contact with our lawyers, who are in direct contact with authorities and, therefore, it is not appropriate nor prudent to comment further on the reports in the media that the State Security Agency has laid a complaint against Pauw, author of The President’s Keeper,” the company said in a press statement released this afternoon.

The company, though sounding skeptical about communicating further on the matter, had said it was releasing this statement due to “intense concern shown by so many South Africans for our author”, and also assured the public it stood by the book and the “courageous author, who exposed the apartheid-era Vlakplaas death squads, and is one of South Africa’s most respected investigative journalists.”

“Instead of investigating what Pauw’s explosive new book reveals about the agency – including that millions of Rands of taxpayers’ money was blown on a bogus parallel intelligence network – the SSA has chosen to ‘shoot the messenger’.

“We have refused to bow to the pressure – and will continue to do so. Nevetheless, Pauw and NB Publishers will cooperate with the authorites through our attorney, Willem de Klerk,” the statement said.

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