The Presidency on Wednesday night described a claim by the Democratic Alliance (DA) that it had sponsored author Ronald Suresh Roberts to write a book about President Thabo Mbeki as an attempt to tarnish the integrity of the Presidency.
On Wednesday the DA accused Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad of not giving ”an honest answer” to a parliamentary question.
The question was whether the presidency had commissioned a R1-million corporate sponsorship for Roberts to write a book about President Thabo Mbeki.
In a written reply, in November 2004, Pahad said it had not.
Responding on Wednesday night, the Presidency, through its spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga said: ”The fact of the matter is that the Presidency is not a party to the said contract.”
The DA’s Gareth Morgan said documents lodged with the Cape High Court, as part of Roberts’ recent defamation case against Johncom Media, confirmed the presidency had in fact commissioned such a sponsorship for Roberts to write a book about Mbeki.
”The Minister in the Presidency appears not to have provided an honest answer to a parliamentary question. He seems to have misled Parliament and to have deliberately omitted information and details contrary to the answer he provided,” Morgan said in a statement.
Morgan said the DA was in possession of all the documents, and from them it was ”quite clear” the Presidency — and Pahad in particular — was intricately involved in facilitating, constructing and finalising the entire deal.
”The documents lodged include a series of e-mails exchanged between Absa [who sponsored the book], Mr Roberts and the Presidency, and also contain the actual contract between Mr Roberts, Absa and the Presidency.
Morgan said he would raise the matter with Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete and submit a follow-up question to Pahad.
Ratshitanga provided a background of the ”DA’s attempt to tarnish the integrity of both Dr Pahad and the Presidency”.
”In the latter part of 2004, Mr GR Morgan asked the minister in the Presidency the following”:
- 1. Whether the Presidency secured R1,2-million in corporate sponsorship in respect of a book to be written … on the President’s intellectual traditions. The minister replied: ”No.”
- 2. Whether the Presidency entered into a contract for the writing of the book. The minister replied: ”No.”
- 3. Whether any office bearers in the Presidency were charged with securing corporate sponsorship for the book. The minister replied: ”No such task was performed.”
Ratshitanga concluded: ”In this respect the question enquired as to whether the Presidency was involved in this matter, and correctly the minister responded by unequivocally saying ‘no, the Presidency was not involved’.
”After Dr Essop Pahad was approached with the idea of writing a book on the President, he agreed that the idea was sound. He then, in his personal capacity, agreed to assist in facilitating the financing of such a book. It is in this context that he approached Dr Bosman at Absa.”
Since Pahad made the approach in his personal capacity, the Presidency was not involved in the matter at all, Ratshitanga said.
On October 3 2004, the Sunday Times published a profile of Roberts, entitled The unlikeable Mr Roberts, by Chris Barron. Roberts then sued the paper for defamation, but a High Court judge early in January ruled that any damage to his reputation was self-inflicted. – Sapa