OPINION – Controversial journalist Jacques Pauw and the Daily Maverick were left with egg on their faces yesterday when it turned out he had fabricated allegations he'd made in an opinion piece relating to his arrest at a V&A Waterfront restaurant in Cape Town last week.
According to reports, Pauw, the author of the discredited President’s Keepers, wrote a column in the Daily Maverick accusing the restaurant of having refused to allow him alternative means to settle his R1 600 bill after his credit card was declined several times while attempting to pay.
In the report, Pauw alleged the restaurant had instead called the police to arrest him while he was walking to an ATM and the police had stolen his cash, before detaining him overnight and charging him with theft.
In a statement released yesterday, Pauw changed his original version and noted he had wrongly created the impression the restaurant’s management or the waiter who had served him had called the police to have him arrested, while he was the one who had misbehaved and was intoxicated.
He said he had written the column after appearing in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on a charge of theft, which he said he still disputed.
Pauw said: “I wrote the article because I was emotional, angry, and humiliated by the entire experience. I have since realised that there are errors in the article, after reflection and upon additional evidence. I had too much to drink in the restaurant and my memory was blurred. The ordeal of the experience of the arrest and having to spend the night in jail compounded my emotional state … I misbehaved and I wish to apologise for my behaviour.”
In his column, Pauw, also accused the SAPS of stealing R1 000 from him.
He has now admitted this was not the case: “I have also established that the police officers did not take the R1 000 in cash I had with me. I was only provided with evidence on Monday.”
Not only is Pauw a drunkard and a liar, but he has also put the media industry into disrepute.
Already, the relationship between the media and the public is very hostile and this situation will make it even more difficult for our colleagues to do their jobs.
The fact is that Pauw, who also has damning allegations of child molestation hanging over his head, lied about his version of events and the Daily Maverick, already a tainted mouthpiece with questionable donors, failed to practise due diligence and took his word for it.
However, one must not be surprised as white privilege in South Africa dictates you can lie with impunity, and apologise and life goes on.
If Pauw was black, the proverbial knives would have been out for him by now, as many of our brothers and sisters have been cancelled for far less.
Daily News