Cape Town - Political analyst Prince Mashele has apologised for lying that ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba had no role in funding the disgraced book.
He has admitted Mashaba did infact pay R12m for the book, which was marketed as an unauthorised biography.
Mashele had told eNCA last week that he funded the book out of pocket. It was later revealed Mashaba paid R12m for the “unauthorised” biography.
In his apology issued on Wednesday, Mashele said: “I would like to offer a sincere and unreserved apology for my part in the controversy which resulted in the withdrawal of my book, The Outsider: The Unauthorised Biography of Herman Mashaba.
“While I was bound by a non-disclosure obligation, I accept that I should not have stated that Herman Mashaba had no role to play in the funding of the book,” he said.
He justified the huge fee as a research cost that led to the production of the book, saying it was financed through a funding agreement with Mashaba.
“I offer my apology to Mr Mashaba who has since been associated with the controversy due to no fault of his own.
“l admit that the answer I gave to Professor JJ Tabane, which stated that Mr Mashaba had no role in the funding of the book, was incorrect. I apologise to Professor Tabane and the public in this regard.
“I would also like to thank Jonathan Ball Publishers since, despite their disapproval of my non-disclosure about the funding, they still maintained that ‘the manuscript that was submitted to us stood up to scrutiny’.
“l appreciate the publisher’s' professionalism in my interaction with them,” he added.
Meanwhile, the ANC in Gauteng has slammed Mashele and Mashaba for allegedly attempting to concealing what they called one of the country’s biggest literary frauds.
It further said the party reacted strongly to what it described as a “deception of self-aggrandising” literary fraud following the news of the Mashaba book, The Outsider, penned by Mashele at a cost of R12.5m allegedly from Mashaba.
“The ANC in Gauteng has learnt with great concern that the leader of ActionSA, Mashaba, has pulled off one of the greatest acts of deception in literary history.
“The book purported to be an unauthorised biography when, in fact, Mashaba not only paid Mashele a mind-boggling R12.5m towards its research but was also in the process of providing information to Mashele,” the ANC added.
IOL