Over the past few weeks there have been calls for the Sunday Times to publicly account, apologise and testify before judicial commissions about its role and involvement in state capture. While some of these calls are genuine and come from people who care deeply about this newspaper, the most vocal has been from a group of people who want you, our loyal reader, to doubt whether this newspaper can still be trusted.
So let's deal with that question. Can the Sunday Times be trusted after everything it did just three years ago? The answer is a resounding yes. You can trust the Sunday Times. You can trust me, its editor, and you can trust the team that is entrusted with the most difficult task in South African media, that of putting together this great newspaper every week.
Today I want to thank you for your continued support - especially through what has been the most difficult time in the life of this newspaper. The Sunday Times has always derived its authority and mandate from the public trust. It subscribes to the principles and values of transparency, accountability and honesty. Getting to the truth is integral to our mission and values. Our credibility and integrity depend on these values.
It is for this reason that I took a decision in 2016 to re-examine our reporting on the South African Revenue Service (Sars), to apologise for errors made and reach out to the people affected. This work continues. I am willing to provide clarity and explain this decision in any forum.
On discovering weaknesses in our internal verification systems that might have led to our failure to interrogate the motive of our sources, I not only apologised but wrote to you to promise a complete overhaul of the newspaper's systems and structures.
Now it is time to report back to you about what we have been doing. The past two-and-a-half years have been a most difficult but fulfilling period for this newspaper. We have spent a lot of time focusing on strengthening our systems, editorial processes and newsdesk structures to ensure that every piece of information is authenticated and verified, and that sources' motives are interrogated, in accordance with the press code and our own editorial policy.