NATIONAL NEWS - Ever since the State Security Agency (SSA) issued a “cease and desist” lawyer’s letter over further publishing and distribution of investigative journalist Jacques Pauw’s book, The Presidents Keepers, people have been sharing a free copy in ever greater numbers with friends and family privately, and across numerous social media platforms.
Pauw told The Citizen he expected the book to stir things up, but said he was “overwhelmed by the reaction”. Unavailable in print, the book can be purchased online at various publishers.
The SSA’s attempt to block the book is a case study in a phenomenon called the Streisand Effect, when an attempt to censor something has the effect of publishing the information much more widely than anticipated.
“The book has almost become a rallying point against corruption in SA,” Pauw said. “Civil society realises that we are entering the realm of a gangster state. They’ve had enough. It must stop. And I think what is encouraging is Nelson Mandela’s rainbow nation is taking up arms against Jacob Zuma and his coterie of thugs and crooks.”
The leaks of devastating information against the apparent corrupt doings of government have become common place enough for it to retreat behind the idea of “an attack on a constitutional democracy”.
