The Mail & Guardian newspaper is standing by its front-page story that DA leader Mmusi Maimane has been taking leadership classes from former president FW de Klerk.
“We stand by our article. Normal avenues, including press ombud and courts, are open to those who differ. End of story,” tweeted Verashni Pillay, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief on Friday.
Maimane on Friday branded the article “utter nonsense” and De Klerk responded that there was no truth “in the rumours”.
Maimane said Pillay had “never called me once”, but Pillay insisted the newspaper had called Mabine Seabe, his spokeswoman, “repeatedly as is protocol” and had made “repeated calls, SMSes and e-mails which they (the DA) chose to ignore. Now they’re crying foul. Please.”
The article quoted four separate senior DA insiders who revealed that Maimane had visited the apartheid-era president on various occasions.
De Klerk did not respond in the story as he was travelling, while the newspaper quoted DA spokesman Phumzile van Damme rubbishing the “unsubstantiated claims”.
On Friday, on Twitter, Van Damme urged Pillay to “retract” the piece.
De Klerk, in a statement issued by the FW de Klerk Foundation, denied the meetings had ever taken place.
“He (Maimane) has never been to my home and never sought my advice ‘on speeches and leadership and acting presidential’.
“I only met him once at my office in March 2015, when he paid me a courtesy visit.”
Maimane said earlier that, as an opposition leader, he met leaders and state opposition as a matter of course.
He had met De Klerk in 2014, “just like I recently met with former president Mbeki. It’s a non-story”.
Saturday Star