Journalist and author Jacques Pauw has on Tuesday apologized for lying about police stealing money from him and being harassed by the men in blue at a V&A Waterfront restaurant.
Pauw was arrested earlier this month after refusing to cooperate with officers during an altercation.
He said he wrote an angry column for the Daily Maverick, which was published last Friday, where he details what transpired.
“The column in the Daily Maverick created the impression that either the restaurant management, or the waiter that served me, or the V&A Waterfront made a call to the police to have me arrested. It turns out this did not happen. Neither the restaurant nor the Waterfront made any such calls and played no role in my arrest.”
In his initial article, Pauw accused the restaurant of calling the police for failing to pay his bill at the establishment.
But in a statement drafted and released on Tuesday, Pauw said the officers were not called as they were already there and inquired about what was happening.
“I wrote the column because I was emotional, angry, and humiliated by the entire experience. The column was published on Friday afternoon. Upon reflection and additional evidence provided to me, I have realized that there are errors in the column. I now wish to set the record straight.”
He said he acted impolitely in the heat of the moment when confronted by police, which resulted to his subsequent arrest.
Pauw wrote in his article that three officers stole R1,000 from him, which he now said was false; he corrected this in the revised version of the column.
He said the restaurant owner had promised to withdraw criminal charges against him and that he settled his bill after the whole ordeal.
“I feel embarrassed about my conduct. In this era of fake news, propaganda, and lack of accountability, I must publicly accept responsibility for my own actions and apologize for them. It is the right thing to do.”
My statement and an apology about the events at the V&A Waterfront on 6 February 2021 pic.twitter.com/ufFUGNdAvf
— Jacques Pauw (@Jaqqs) February 16, 2021
-The Citizen
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