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By Daniel Friedman

Digital news editor


Veteran journalists in messy twar over Sars story

Noseweek editor Martin Welz and journalist Jacques Pauw have two very different versions of the truth regarding a former Sars official.


A story in Noseweek looking at former Sars official Johann van Loggerenberg has started a Twitter war between the publication’s editor Martin Welz and investigative journalist and The President’s Keepers author Jaques Pauw, who is mentioned in the story.

Veteran journalist Max Du Preez also jumped into the fray, asking Welz what his “agenda” was and calling the story “bizarre” and disappointing.

Pauw slammed the story on Twitter, saying it was riddled with mistakes and asking why Welz would try and expose his sources.

He also identified what he saw as several inaccuracies in the piece relating to his work as well as News24 Adriaan Basson’s.

According to Pauw, the Noseweek article’s assertion that “Basson and Pauw co-authored a timely scoop in City Press about a ‘fraudulent and possibly corrupt’ R52 million Limpopo roads tender won by On-Point Engineers, in which the family trust of then ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema was a shareholder” is incorrect. He said it was actually journalist Piet Rampedi who wrote the article with Basson.

READ MORE: Jacques Pauw asks questions about Malema’s wife’s Porsche

The article says that Basson won CNN’s Journalist of the Year award in 2012, which Pauw says is also false.

It alleges Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan played a role in Pauw’s bestselling book about former president Jacob Zuma, The President’s Keepers, something Pauw also denies.

In another tweet, Pauw claimed he and Welz were friends until April this year and that the Noseweek editor knew “very well” that Gordhan and former acting Sars commissioner Ivan Pillay had played no role in the writing of The President’s Keepers.

Welz, meanwhile, hit back at Pauw, using the same words he had. Pauw described Welz’s story as “Another Nosweek story riddled with mistakes”, and Welz, in turn, described Pauw’s tweet as “Another Jacques Pauw tirade riddled with mistakes!”.

The Noseweek editor went on to say “facts no longer matter” to Pauw.

He responded to Pauw’s claims by saying “City Press’s story headlined ‘R52m tender trips up Malema’ naming the Ratananga Trust and dated 2012-09-23 lists its authors as ‘Adriaan Basson, Jacques Pauw & Athandiwe Saba'” and accusing him of “desperate attacks” on his publication.

READ MORE: Jacques Pauw tears Lost Boys of Bird Island apart in scathing review

Welz, in another tweet, argued with Pauw over his assertion that it was “impossible” Van Loggerenberg could have been an apartheid spy.

And according to Welz, Basson did indeed win the CNN award for African Newspaper Journalist of the Year in 2012.

The Noseweek story, available to subscribers only, can be found here.

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