President Vorster challenges Dr Rhoodie

In a lengthy statement, President B.J. Vorster challenged Dr. Eschel Rhoodie to release any document that would implicate him in the Information Affair. He emphasized that the question was not whether state money had been made available for secret projects, but whether that money had been misused. He denied that he was informed of the secret funding of The Citizen and rejected as contemptible Dr. Eschel Rhoodie's attempt to drag Minister Horwood into the affair. The Prime Minister, P.W. Botha, released a cautiously worded statement from his office, saying that the Cabinet knew of secret projects, but not about the state funding of The Citizen; nor of any other irregularities that had taken place. He said he would undertake to resign only if it could be proved that members of his Cabinet had been aware of one specific project, namely the funding of The Citizen, before he came into power in September 1978. Source: Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.