Muldergate

The Muldergate scandal, also known as the Information Scandal or Infogate, was a South African political scandal involving a secret propaganda campaign conducted by the apartheid Department of Information.^[1] It centred on revelations about the department's use of a multi-million rand secret slush fund, channelled from the defence budget, to fund an ambitious series of projects in publishing, media relations, public relations, lobbying, and diplomacy. Most ambitiously, the fund was used to establish a new pro-government newspaper, the Citizen, and in attempts to purchase both the Rand Daily Mail and the Washington Star. The projects, involving a total amount of at least $72 million (over $300 million in 2021 terms),^[2][3][4] aimed primarily to counter negative perceptions of the South African government in foreign countries, especially in the West.^[5][6]

The scandal broke in 1977 and implicated the Prime Minister, B. J. Vorster. Also centrally involved in "Project Annemarie" were Eschel Rhoodie, Secretary of Information; Connie Mulder, Minister of Information, and a rising star in the National Party; and Hendrik van den Bergh, the Head of the Bureau for State Security. A series of internal investigations, inquiries, and media exposés culminated in the resignation in disgrace of all four men.^[5][7] In fact, during the course of the scandal, Vorster resigned twice, first from the Prime Ministership and then from the State Presidency. P. W. Botha, Vorster's successor as Prime Minister, was Minister of Defence throughout Project Annemarie's lifespan and was implicated in facilitating the slush fund, but he was ultimately cleared of all wrongdoing. Rhoodie was prosecuted for fraud and theft, and one other participant, American media magnate John P. McGoff, also faced criminal charges related to the scandal.