CARL Niehaus is down and out, and is pleading with South Africans to give him a second chance.

The former ANC spin doctor says he needs a job so that he can pay his debtors.

"I have messed up big time and I hope that South Africans would find it in their hearts to forgive me.

"I do not want charity but a job as a first step to undoing my wrongs, and to use my skills to contribute to the wellbeing of the country. I will take any job,"

Niehaus was addressing the National Press Club in Pretoria yesterday.

He said he refused to give interviews after his fraudulent activities surfaced because he wanted to consider and work through what had happened in his life.

"I have made considerable progress in rehabilitating myself but I need to do more. I have disappointed a lot of people, my comrades and the ANC.

"I am not demanding forgiveness but I sincerely hope that I will be forgiven. All I need is a second chance, a job, so that I can start rehabilitating myself financially," he said.

Asked who he owes and how much, Niehaus did not want to give names or an exact figure but said his debts "did not run into millions but hundreds of thousands of rands".

"Though a lot of what was reported about me was true, many reports did not reflect the truth," he said.

"I am not blaming anyone for my mistakes and I accept what was reported as a package.

"I am currently undergoing therapy but not only for what has recently happened. It is also to deal with the trauma I suffered during the struggle for liberation."