Right of Reply: The “Trick” letter was misquoted

Sacci’s chief executive, Neren Rau, claims that several parts of the article about the organization were misrepresented, biased and incorrect.

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) is concerned that the factual errors, misrepresentations and biased interpretation of events contained in Phillip de Wet’s article ‘Politicizing ‘equals deceit’ which dictate that Sacci’s narrative has been absorbed by narrow interests and operates contrary to the public interest.

The article selectively quotes (and misquotes) from a letter to six government departments outlining business concerns about several government policies due to their interventionist nature. It says: “In early January… Sacci wrote to government departments to formally express concern…” and that “the letter was confidential.”

Sacci sent letters on December 10, 2013 (requesting a response by January 11, 2014) and highlighted this point during the interview. The letter does not indicate that it was confidential.