Booysen’s praise of you was too flattering

The apology you gave on behalf of the Sunday Times — “We got it wrong and for that we apologise” — has gone a long way to doing justice to Maj-Gen Johan Booysen’s image and the integrity of a man whose strong personality sustained him during the scandal.

He is obviously grateful to you for restoring his good name, yet praising you for your courage in admitting to the false stories is too flattering.

Simply put, you had no option.

You published old photographs of crime scenes, knowing they referred to other events. You should have made your journalists more cautious in verifying the facts.

But they believed that truth should not stand in the way of a good story.

What is more, you sat on the correction for many years, leaving other members of the Cato Ridge unit on suspension with tarnished reputations.

You accept the fact that false news might have slipped through your screening process.

But in the meantime you have said nothing of the serious accusation Paul O’Sullivan has levelled at one your journalists, who he claims has printed fake stories about the Independent Police Investigative Directorate in their investigation of corruption against Lt-Gen Khomotso Phahlane.

You need to defend your colleague or at least publish a rebuttal.

Half measures, sir, are not enough. There remains much to answer for.

Ted O’Connor, Albertskroon

Apology showed courage

Your apology titled “The Death Squad That Wasn’t” (October 14) deserves a response.

It takes guts and humility to admit that your paper was wrong.

A genuine and sincere apology such as yours is one of the most profound actions of civilised people.

Your apology encompassed empathy and the security and strength to admit fault, failure and weakness.

Your response was indeed an act of supreme nobility as events glaringly record and graphically illustrate that failed apologies can strain relationships beyond repair or, worse, create lifelong grudges and a bitter desire for vengeance.

It takes extreme courage under fire to admit that lies were peddled as the gospel truth in which character assassination was brazenly used as a malicious tool to subvert the truth and embellish falsehoods.

The magnitude of your apology will resonate within the media fraternity for decades to come.

It is an act of magnanimity unprecedented in the annals of investigative journalism. It will serve as a potent reputation enhancer. It asserts that the transgression is understood and not likely to be repeated.

A sincere apology is at the heart of the healing process.

Farouk Araie, Johannesburg