Pauw gets ultimatum to retract

Fraser-Moleketi, family’s interdict threat

GERALDINE Fraser-Moleketi, her mom and sisters are taking on journalist and author, Jacques Pauw, and are demanding a retraction of paragraphs about the family from his book, The President’s Keepers, which the women claim are untruthful and defamatory.

Fraser-Moleketi, former public service and administration minister, and her relatives yesterday started legal proceedings against Pauw and Tafelberg Publishers.

Weekend Argus is in possession of two letters of demand sent to the author and his publisher.

In a WhatsApp response to Weekend Argus, Pauw said he was in the Czech Republic and hadn’t seen the letter.

“But it seems a bit silly to demand a retraction after 200 000 books have been sold,” said Pauw.

Tafelberg Publishers had not replied to attempts for comment.

Weekend Argus also tried to contact the attorneys, Brink and Thomas Incorporated, but they refused to comment on the matter.

The first letter of demand cited Mrs Cynthia F Fraser as the client and the second letter cited her daughters, Ms Erica Fraser, Ms Deborah Kay Fraser and Mrs Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi as clients.

The legal notices, dated June 21, 2018, demanded that Pauw and Tafelberg Publishers “remedy this egregious breach of our clients’ rights to their dignity and reputation and that you do so by retracting untruths and false statements and causing such a retraction to be published in a prominent place in an issue of the Sunday Times and City Press no later than 30 days from the date of this letter”.

The letters further warned that failure on the part of Pauw and Tafelberg Publishers to deliver written confirmation of receipt of the letters of demand, within five days and to comply with the demand, would result in the clients approaching the high court for a remedy.

According to the letter, Pauw said in his book on page 35: “Ms C.F. Fraser, was also a PAN agent. Both Barry Fraser and Ms Fraser were board members of a community-based organisation that dealt with conflict resolution at schools.

“PAN contributed R10 million towards the organisation although it had nothing to do with national security.”

The letter of demand further stated: “Mrs Cynthia Fraser is a retired senior citizen with a long and distinguished history in the Struggle against apartheid.

“At no stage of her life was she a PAN (Principal Agent Network) agent. This statement is accordingly patently false.”

According to the first letter, both Mrs Cynthia Fraser and Barry Fraser deny ever being board members of any community-based organisa- tion which received R10m.

The letter of demand also questioned why Pauw did not name the community-based organisation he claimed Mrs Fraser and Barry Fraser were board members of.

The letters go on to say Pauw’s book and “the context of the book were clearly intended to be understood by readers to mean that our client is part of a network of corrupt, morally bankrupt and sinister individuals described by you as the president’s keepers, keeping (former) president (Jacob) Zuma in power and out of prison. Our clients deny they are part of such a group”.

In the second letter of demand, the daughters, Ms Erica Fraser, Ms Deborah Kay Fraser and Mrs Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi have taken offence to an extract from page 56: “One of his first appointments was that of his right-hand man at PAN and his brother-in-law, Graham Engel, as his second in command… Married to Fraser’s sister, he is in the all-powerful position as the national co-ordinator of all intelligence”.

The letter stated: “The claim that a Fraser sister was married to an all-powerful intelligence officer Graham Engel is simply not true”.

The letter further asked of Pauw why he did not name the sister that was married to Graham Engel.

The women warned if there was no action on the part of Pauw and Tafelberg Publishers, they would apply for an interdict in the high court against “further publication in all forms including printing and electronic or conversion of its content to any other format, for the immediate cessation of distribution, and for a prohibition on promotion thereof ”.

Jacques Pauw