Muldergate
| Location | South Africa |
|---|---|
| Perpetrators | South Africa/Deep state |
| Description | South African political scandal involving the Department of Information |
Muldergate, also known as the Information Scandal, was a South African political scandal involving the Department of Information. It brought down Connie Mulder and South African Prime Minister B. J. Vorster.[1]
Contents
Events
South African Prime Minister B. J. Vorster, Connie Mulder (Minister of Information), General Hendricks van der Bergh (Head of the Bureau of State Security) and Eschel Rhoodie (Secretary of the Department of Information) were implicated in plans to use government resources to fight a propaganda war for the then apartheid government. In 1973 John Vorster had agreed to Mulder's plan to shift about 64 million rand from the defense budget to undertake a series of propaganda projects. Plans included bribes of international corporate news agencies and the purchase of the Washington Star newspaper.
Slush fund
Vorster was also implicated in the use of a secret slush fund to establish The Citizen, the only major English-language newspaper that was favourable to the National Party.
Inquiry
A commission of inquiry concluded in mid-1979 that Vorster knew "everything" about the corruption and had tolerated it. He resigned from the presidency in disgrace.
