Secret Information by Les de Villiers

Secret Information (1980 Insider Account of the Muldergate Scandal)

An Insider's Account of the Information Scandal That Shook Vorster's South Africa

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Secret Information
• Author: Les de Villiers
• Publisher: Tafelberg, Cape Town
• Publication Date: 1980
• ISBN-10: 0624013979
• Edition Details: First Edition.
• Binding: Publisher's dark grey cloth boards with white lettering to the spine, issued in a printed dust jacket lettered in orange and black.
• Physical Format: Octavo (8vo) hardcover, medium size. The jacket front carries four black-and-white portrait photographs.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Good (G)
• Exterior / Boards: The dark grey cloth boards are clean, with slight bumping to the lower corners and a small speck pattern near the tail edge. The spine carries white lettering and the text block edges are toned.
• Interior: The binding appears tight. Two patches of brown staining from old adhesive tape show on the front free endpaper, with some light spotting to the endpapers. The title page and copyright page are clean and slightly toned.
• Provenance: Previous owner's name in blue/purple ink on the front free endpaper, reading approximately "Gladys Fish". No bookplate or stamp.
• The Dust Jacket: Present and intact, with browning and rubbing at the head of the spine and top front corner, small foxing-like marks at the top right corner of the front panel, a small scuffed patch near the lower fore-edge of the front panel, and a faint grey smudge to the back panel. The inside fold of the flap shows browning at the top. Protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.

Synopsis & Historical Value

Published in Cape Town by Tafelberg in 1980, Secret Information is an account of the Muldergate (Information Scandal) affair by Les de Villiers, former Deputy Secretary of Information and long-time assistant to Eschel Rhoodie.

The scandal centred on the apartheid government's secret propaganda operations and the misuse of state funds, and it brought down senior figures in the Vorster administration. Written by a man who worked inside the Department of Information, the book offers a participant's perspective on those events.

The book is cited by academic studies of Muldergate and of the apartheid state's propaganda efforts. Scholars also note that it is a self-justifying account and should be read alongside other sources, which makes it a valuable primary perspective for students of the period.

Author Profile: Les de Villiers

Les de Villiers served as Deputy Secretary of Information in South Africa's Department of Information. Eschel Rhoodie recruited him as one of his deputies, alongside Rhoodie's brother Deneys, shortly after Rhoodie's appointment to the department.

After leaving the department he joined the public relations firm Sidney Baron in New York. His other writing includes South Africa: A Skunk Among Nations (London, 1975).

Secret Information Les de Villiers · Muldergate book · Information Scandal South Africa · Eschel Rhoodie Department of Information · apartheid propaganda history · Tafelberg 1980 first edition · Les de Villiers Muldergate