Pauw anticipates second wave of action to clamp down on his book
Johannesburg – Author and investigative journalist Jacques Pauw says that for about 10 days, some of those who have threatened legal action against him have been silent, but he thinks this is because they are coming up with new strategies on how next to confront him.
"They've been very quiet... (State Security Agency director general) Arthur Fraser is sitting back and trying to devise another strategy," he said, in reference to the State Security Agency's (SSA) attempts to have him retract certain parts of his book and the agency's threats of legal action against him.
Pauw said attempts to clamp down on his acclaimed book, The President's Keepers, at this stage were "laughable".
He was speaking on Friday as part of a panel on state capture in South Africa at the 10th Global Investigative Journalism Conference being held at Wits University. More than a thousand investigative reporters from around the world have gathered there.
Earlier, Pauw said he had heard that on Monday morning a police officer tried to secure a warrant for his arrest in Pietermaritzburg. However, the officer had failed as a magistrate did not authorise it.