'I was under legal obligation not to reveal the source of funding,' Mashele maintains on Mashaba book

Political analyst and author Prince Mashele on Tuesday clarified he was “under legal obligation” not to reveal that Herman Mashaba paid him R12.5m to write his biography.

“Let me explain. If I sign a contract with you now, I will respect it. I will never break it. I signed a contract with Herman Mashaba with a non-disclosure regime and I could not break that contract without written permission. Just like I won’t tell you what is in the contract between me and Jonathan Ball without receiving permission from them. I was under legal obligation not to reveal,” said Mashele.

The author made headlines after the Sunday Times reported at the weekend that Mashaba had funded The Outsider: The unauthorised biography of Herman Mashaba after an agreement between the two.

It has emerged that Mashaba undertook to pay Mashele R12.5m to fund the research for the book in a secret arrangement in 2019.

The publishing company, in a statement released on Monday night, said: “Following the disclosure that Herman Mashaba had funded the writing of a biography about him by Mashele, as confirmed by Mashaba in a media release, Jonathan Ball Publishers is left with no option but to withdraw The Outsider from the market.

“Jonathan Ball was unaware of any funding agreement between Mashele and Mashaba when we signed a publishing agreement with Mashele in 2022. We view this as a material non-disclosure on the part of the author and as a breach of trust.

The publisher also said the contract Mashaba quoted in his statement is from 2019 and is “not the contract signed between Mashele and Jonathan Ball'.”

Setting the record straight during The Clement Manyathela Show on Radio 702, Mashele confirmed that he had been friends with senior researcher and consultant Brutus Malada for more than 25 years but has since ended the relationship.

Manyathela asked Mashele about the funding, to which he said: “When this surfaced in public, and I am not going to beat about the bush, my hands were tied...”

He said he signed two contracts, one with Mashaba and the other with the publishers.

“The lawyers said you have signed a non-disclosure regime and you don’t want to be the one breaking that because if you do, you are going to open yourself to a lawsuit, which is why I could not confirm anything; and the lawyers said I must keep quiet.

“I would not want to get into details about things that are contained in contracts that I have signed because I am going to face the music from those that I have signed contracts with. What I can say with regards to the R12.5m is that books in SA and all over the world are funded.”

He said he does not understand the outrage because “it’s not even the biggest project in terms of research”.

Manyathela asked Mashele why he did not dispute the “unauthorised” biography title because it misled the public, he said: “I, Prince Mashele, did not give this book the title ‘unauthorised’.”

He said Jonathan Ball took the decision for “marketing purposes”.

The radio host asked him if he understood the difference between an “authorised” and unauthorised” biography.

Mashele said: “An authorised biography, the subject has the final word. An unauthorised biography, the author has the final word. With regards to the book, I had the final word.”

Manyathela went on to explain to Mashele that an “unauthorised” biography was a book written about someone without their permission or involvement.

Mashele then accused Manyathela of having “the incorrect” definition. “It’s incorrect,” he said, to which Manyathela then asked, “so why is the publisher saying 'there was a material non-disclosure on the part of the author and a breach of trust'?”

Mashele said: “My goodness, they withdrew this book twice. The first was last Tuesday. I sat in front of a high-powered delegation of the publishers where they told me they are withdrawing the book because I had breached trust.

“I asked them whether there was a provision in their contract which I had breached, and they could not come up with it. Even in that statement, as we speak, Jonathan Ball cannot show you one provision I have breached.

“This project, I approached Herman in 2018. He was still the mayor of Johannesburg. I signed a contract with Herman in March 2019, long before ActionSA. I signed a contract with Jonathan Ball late in 2022. When they gave me their contract, I gave it to my lawyers to look at it.”

He said: “Jonathan Ball did not ask me to reveal the funding of the project and that is when my lawyers said I could sign.”

Manyathela asked Mashele why he lied to the public when he said the book was self-funded during an interview with eNCA’s JJ Tabane. “You lied,” he said, adding that Mashele had a moral obligation to tell the truth about the funding.

“I accept that that is your framing it... I did not reveal it to the public and I did not reveal it to Jonathan Ball.”

Manyathela asked Mashele why he did not tell Tabane the truth.

“I did not want to create an impression... that Herman funded the project.”

He said he respects the statement issued by ActionSA on the matter.

Again, Manyathela put it to him, “Did Herman Mashaba fund this book?”

“I've had discussions with Herman recently and he has permitted me to reveal that, yes, he did.”

About 30 minutes into the interview, Mashele confirmed that the amount was R12.5m.

“That R12.5m went into the four-year research project.”

Asked what happened to the R9m, Mashele said: “I will never confirm anything that Brutus said because I have never had a contract with Brutus.”

Manyathela then asked Mashele why he paid him more than R3m without a contract.

“I am telling you that I will not reveal how much I paid Brutus.”

Asked why, he said because of contractual obligations.

“This was a four-year project and a detailed budget was presented to Mr Mashaba outlining what would happen in year one, two and three and four. That money went into the activities that were detailed in the budget.

“This impression that I pocketed this money, I wish I could earn R12.5m. The thing about someone being paid R12.5m to write a book depends on the book.”

Manyathela said he interviewed several authors who told him they had “never heard of a book that cost R12m”.

Mashele did not want to reveal the names of others involved in the project.

“Brutus was not the only man involved; there were others who were paid for their roles.”

Mashele denied he has been unethical.

“I have not stolen anyone's money. Herman Mashaba has admitted that he funded the project and accepted the amount. The rates I charge for the work I do, and I cannot tell you, that I am able to negotiate such deals, there is nothing unethical about it.”

Mashele denied being an adviser to Mashaba when he was the mayor or when he founded ActionSA.

On his relationship with Malada, he said he discovered early this year that he took information that arose from the research project and handed it to his wife Mpho Phalatse and another political party he will not mention.

“He breached the confidence and trust that I had with him as a researcher in the project,” said Mashele.

He terminated the relationship after the breach.

In an interview with the SABC, Mashele said: “My preferred title, by the way, was Herman Mashaba: The Outsider but they told me that 'the unauthorised biography' would do better in terms of being catchy. And you know what, I accepted that. But I anticipated that there could be a problem of interpretation, which is why in my preface of the book, I have explained the nature of my relationship with Mashaba.” 

Mashele maintained he remains unruffled by accusations against him and would continue his work as a political consultant. He added that he accepted the publisher's right to remove the book and was “considering his options” on its future.

Jonathan Ball Publishers told TimesLIVE it had no further comment to make after questions regarding the refund process for customers who had bought the book as well as what would happen to unsold copies.

ActionSA confirmed Mashele's comments while adding that Mashaba had reviewed the manuscript for accuracy. The party denied Mashaba had any engagement with the publisher and disputed Mashele's claim that he disclosed his relationship with Mashaba, saying he did not, and this is why “they felt this was a breach of trust”.

The party said: “ActionSA asserts that the commentary on this matter has incorrectly sort to cast aspersions on Mashaba's integrity or that of ActionSA. We have issued a statement providing the necessary clarifications and will now proceed to focus on the real issues that effect the lives of South Africans and how ActionSA can provide effective solutions to these challenges. This includes the human rights disaster in Hammanskraal in which 10 people have died because of the quality of the water issues in this municipality — a matter that ActionSA has fought for some time. As such, we will not be giving interviews on the matter of the book and direct members of the media to the comprehensive statement issued.”

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