CAPE TOWN, (ANA) – NB Publishers on Monday circulated a lawyer’s letter to the State Security Agency (SSA) in which it says it will not desist from making author Jacques Paus’s new book, The President’s Keeper, publicly available.
The letter, circulated on NB Publishers’ twitter page, is a response to the SSA which served Pauw with a cease and desist notice last week, saying the book was “replete with inaccuracies” and threatened national security.
NB Publishers denied the SSA claims.
“Our clients maintain that the information contained in the book is true and of undeniable public interest,” the letter from Willem de Klerk attorneys said.
“Publication of the book, including those parts referring to the State Security Agency, was justified and lawful in terms of our clients’ Constitutional right to freedom of Expression. Accordingly, our clients will not desist from making the book available to the public, will not withdraw the book from the market, and will not retract anything therein contained.”
NB publishers argue the book has been electronically available for over a week, and that information contained in the book has been published widely by South African and international media.
“Any attempt by the State Security Agency to prevent the further dissemination of the book would serve no rational purpose. As you will be aware, courts do not, as a matter of policy, make orders which do not serve a purpose or to which effect cannot be given.”
Some of the claims in the book include that President Jacob Zuma was on the payroll of Royal Security, owned by one of the president’s friends, and received a monthly salary of R1 million in the first months of his presidency. It also claimed he failed to submit his tax returns in the first few years after taking the position of president.
The SSA gave the publishers until Tuesday to withdraw the book or be dragged to court.
Speaking to the African News Agency (ANA), all State Security Agency spokesman Brian Dube was prepared to say was: “We will then consider the letter and the SSA will determine the next course of action.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
