Your ‘apology’ is not good enough

“We got it wrong and for that we apologise” (October 14) was billed as an apology for various scandalous, unethical and botched investigative reports. The apology is not an apology, it is an apologia. While supposedly showcasing a newfound rectitude and rediscovery of the newspaper’s moral compass, Bongani Siqoko in fact spent most of his words on implying that the reporters were merely a little lacking in thoroughness in verifying their information.

It is clear from the article by Johan Booysen printed alongside the apologia that the journalists wilfully ignored information. This was not a case of hapless journalists being unwittingly suborned to support the cause of nasty other people. It’s nonsense to say “we were not motivated by political, commercial or personal interests”. Political, perhaps not; but newspapers seek sensational news to spur sales; journalists seek personal glory for breaking big stories and get promoted and rewarded — and in the cases cited here, also awarded — on the strength of how exciting and interesting and newsworthy their stories are. It is patent in the South African Revenue Service (Sars), renditions and Cato Manor stories that they were being milked to further those interests.

The “apology” is so hedged about with qualifications as to make anyone with real sympathy for the victims of the vicious reporting gag with anger. “Our stories may have been used for this purpose”, “we allowed our stories to be abused for this purpose”, “we should have paused and asked more questions”, “we should have been more balanced in our reporting”, “we unintentionally tainted our stories by narrowly focusing our reportage”, “had we been more rigorous in our approach” — it just goes on and on.

This is a nauseating non-apology that attempts to slither from under the nasty reality of reporting that ignored anything that stood in the way of great juicy stories.

It’s more than rich, it is revolting, for Siqoko to say, in “Our response to an unhappy saga” on the front page, that “the return of the awards and the money is a bold move to finally draw a line under the saga”. That is like a hijacker who brutally robs a driver of his car, maims him for life in the process and wrecks the vehicle, then years later has a change of heart, returns the wrecked vehicle to the maimed person and piously hopes that now it can all be put aside, forgotten and forgiven.

It’s not good enough. It’s not good at all. Chris Crozier, Constantia

That took great courage

A new kind of light has descended in our country that shines so brightly. It is a light that has temporarily dispelled the doom and gloom that we are experiencing. Congratulations to the editor of the Sunday Times, Mr Bongani Siqoko. It takes a lot of courage to say I am sorry.

To return all awards and prize money is great courage and excellent leadership.

You, sir, are a true champion to all Sunday Times readers. Guided by truth, you have left an indelible mark on all your readers. Take a bow.

Dhayalan Moodley, Mobeni Heights

Tito can do it

As expected, finance minister Nhlanhla Nene resigned to avoid exerting aggravated pressure on the already stressed business sector and sagging public confidence.

However, there’s a politically optical illusion parroted by some that Tito Mboweni exemplifies the so-called recycled old guard in the governing party.

Mboweni answered the call to salvage a precarious situation. President Cyril Ramaphosa handed him the job to resuscitate an economy recovering from an investment drought and technical recession. It’s daunting for a newcomer to tackle the national challenges and restore the environment in eight months.

Mboweni being equal to the task, this appointment presents an opportunity for him to incubate his successor.

The next great challenge is to deal with the threat of a further downgrade to SA’s credit outlook, and maladministration following the alleged state capture that led to SA losing billions to corruption.

Morgan Phaahla, Ekurhuleni

A king’s ransom

So, the Venda king was unaware that his account had a mysterious R17.7m deposited in it? King Toni Mphephu’s side of the story must be heard!

Don’t you just hate it when your bank inexplicably deposits R17.7m into your account without prior notification and you just never notice this and then you get accused of dodgy business practices?

What if Sars was functioning efficiently and you were accused of tax dodging? Such bad publicity could destroy one’s reputation.

Robert Nicolai, Howick

This is not cricket

“Playing against Zimbabwe like turning a hose on homeless person” (October 14) reeks of arrogance and disrespect. The disparaging article belittles this cricketing nation no end.

Telford Vice forgets (or does not know) that when Sri Lanka was incorporated into the cricketing first-tier world they were the whipping boys of the sport; likewise Bangladesh. These two countries persevered and were tolerated until they became good cricketing nations in their own right.

Zimbabwe needs the same type of tolerance as they can only get better by playing against quality opposition. Vice finishes off his article with: “But, please, Zimbabwe, piss off home already.” Total disrespect that deserves an apology.

Vincent Naude, Cape Town

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