FEBRUARY 2021 NEWSLETTER

MURDER IN PARIS is a political crime thriller that traces the motives for the assassination of anti- activist, Dulcie September. The story travels from the heart of Paris in March 1988 to the pursuit of justice in 2021. From ‘Incorruptible’ to ‘Rogue’ Murder in Paris follows Evelyn Groenink's 30 year journey to investigate the reasons for the assassination of Dulcie September. Evelyn Groenink is a veteran journalist who started her journalism career in the early 80s at a small left-wing newspaper in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After 1987, and partly as a result from her association with the Dutch Anti-Apartheid Movement, her journalistic focus changed to southern Africa. She was deputy editor for Dutch Anti-Apartheid News. Evelyn is currently investigative editor for the African Investigative Publishing Collective and its partner ZAM in the Netherlands.

My book ‘Incorruptible’ tells the story of my investigative journey into the background of Dulcie September’s assassination. I started that journey, long ago, believing that struggle heroes like her – I also looked into the murders of , and of Anton Lubowski in -, would, and could, only be murdered by one culprit: the apartheid regime, and for one motive only: because they were freedom fighters.

At the end of the journey, things looked a bit different. I had discovered that those mentioned above, including Dulcie September, had tried to keep their organisations free from wrongdoing. “They stood against mafias who had invaded their movements’ inner circles. They were not only brave anti- apartheid fighters; they were incorruptible,” as the back cover of the book reads.

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This is not to say that the apartheid regime had nothing to do with the murders. But was the regime always the same regime? And was the ANC always the same ANC? What do you call a regime that now wants to make friends with its former enemy -and vice versa? What do you call arms dealers who work with both? A lot changes when power changes. One could call it the corruption of a liberation movement. It could also be called simply ‘business as usual.’ In politics, the two, especially when values and principles are relegated to the dustbin of history, tend to go together. And those who remain principled, and stand in the way of such business, tend to get removed.

The subject of my second book was removed from his position by the government, Ivan Pillay, aka The Unlikely Mr Rogue, is my husband. A smear campaign about a ‘rogue unit’ at the SA Revenue Services, which he headed at the time, sufficed to get him and his fellow senior managers, all principled civil servants, out of the way. The result was what the powerful circles around Zuma wanted: they could loot without having to fear even an audit. The same story could be told, as the Zondo commission is presently doing, about other ethical civil servants in the South African state who were obstacles to plunder.

Still, those who were smeared, fired and prosecuted by the ‘Zupta’ regime got off lightly. Many have been assassinated since South Africa’s liberation. They are less well-known than Dulcie September, Anton Lubowski and Chris Hani, and they served perhaps on a lower, municipal or provincial level; but they too, died because they stood in the way of jobs or contracts, because a rival and not they should be in the post or get the deal.

In a way, therefore, the ‘Unlikely Mr Rogue’ follows logically on ‘Incorruptible.’ The second book simply shows what happened to the ANC and South Africa after Dulcie September was murdered. Taken together, as additional background to Enver’s movie, I hope they show, like the movie, that Dulcie is not in the past -and more importantly, that the principle and ethos that was buried with her should be revived and inspire us again.

M U R D E R I N P A R I S N E W S L E T T E R Enver Samuel: What I found in the Archives t was round about August 2019 when I took a call from the archive “whisperer” Nhlanhla Mthethwa, and he casually said he had something for me. I got to his office as quickly as I could because if the “whisperer” calls and it is related to archive, you know that he might have found something special ...

He turned on his laptop and played a clip… I was transfixed, there before me dressed in a pink top, a soft voice, a hesitant smile was Dulcie September speaking to me. The tears welled up in my eyes … I had been working on Murder in Paris for two years, I had immersed myself in reading about -Pat Rowe, Honorable Mention Dulcie, obtained countless photographs and newspaper articles about her, but now there she was finally talking back to me! I had no clue about her voice, her accent …

“I’m Dulcie September, I’m the chief representative of the African National Congress in France”. In an instant she had become a 3 dimensional character and I could pick up nuances that no book, article or photograph could do. If ever I needed a pick me upper on the trials and tribulations of making the documentary, this was it.

Archive research is one of my favourite parts of making a documentary. The search almost takes on a super sleuth connotation, it is like searching for

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and finding nuggets of gold. There is a pounding of the heart as one door opens and another and another that takes you down a journey of discovery. In my search for archive for the Murder in Paris documentary, I have accessed amongst others :

INA – French National Audiovisual Institute, South African History Archive. Historical Papers Research Archive at the University of the Witwatersrand, SABC Archive, Mayibuye Archives at the University of the Western Cape, University Of Fort Hare Archive, Full Circle Productions, National Archives Of South Africa, South African Oral History Online, Sunday Times

The combination of this archive comes together in Murder in Paris, and I believe it paints a picture of a remarkable woman and a true freedom fighter.

About Enver Samuel: Enver is an award-winning filmmaker involved in television production since 1994. He has a passion for telling the stories of unsung heroes and heroines of the South African struggle against apartheid: "The telling of the story of Dulcie September is both timely and appropriate. Her long and uncompromising struggle against apartheid and her persistent battles to unmask the deceit and evil of the global arms trade, that resulted in her murder in 1988, stands out as a sterling example of moral courage and bravery".

Sound recordist Kholisile Vinqi with director Enver Samuel, France 2018 M U R D E R I N P A R I S N E W S L E T T E R F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1

TO DIARISE: Freedom Park launches Dulcie September Annual Lecture Freedom Park is a celebration of the achievement of democracy, founded on the values of human dignity, human rights and freedom. One of the crucial and innovative aspects of Freedom Park is its integration of history, culture and spirituality all foregrounded on indigenous knowledge systems. As we celebrate 20 years of our existence, Freedom Park is issuing a call to all South Africans to embrace, respect, promote and develop those human rights enshrined in our Constitution to build a true non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society. March 21 is a day that some South Africans rather want to forget, but for many it serves as a reminder of the country's dark past, one which they hope never to slide back to.

As we commemorate this month, we should do so with respect and appreciation of our fellow countrymen and -women who fell in the process of confronting the past injustices of apartheid. In this regard, we appreciate the role played by various generations of fighters who sacrificed their lives in the interest of a better South Africa. We join the citizens of South Africa and the world as it celebrates the month in honour of all the heroes and heroines of the struggle. We celebrate this month, in respect and indebtedness of our fellow countrymen and women who fell in the process of confronting the past injustices of apartheid. In this regard, we appreciate the role played by various generations of fighters who sacrificed their lives in the interest of a better South Africa.

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One such heroine we remember this Human Rights Month is Dulcie September as we pay tribute to her in an upcoming Public Lecture. We salute her achievements as a phenomenal human being, leader, freedom fighter and activist. She was truly one of those exceptional human beings who brought about qualitative leaps in the struggle for humanity and freedom internationally. Freedom Park pays tribute to Dulcie September. Thus, on the 18 March 2021 Freedom Park in collaboration with EMS Productions and the Foundation will host a Public Lecture to honour this gallant freedom fighter.

Dulcie September forged an undeniable link between the peoples of South Africa and France. She was posthumously honoured in 2009 by the Government of the Republic of South Africa, for her contribution to the promotion of equality and human rights. She was awarded the National Order of Mendi for dedicating her life in the fight against apartheid. She stood for an equitable and just world for all, where the values of non- racialism and non-sexism are upheld. As we remember Dulcie on the day of her tragic assassination on 29 March 1988, we are also to remember our responsibility in promoting the values she stood for.

She was the very embodiment of the traditions, culture and values of the African National Congress and her entire youth and adult life was characterized by a spirit of selfness, sacrifice, dedication and commitment to fighting all forms of oppression and discrimination. Her ideals until the day she died remained to build a united, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa.

M U R D E R I N P A R I S N E W S L E T T E R BEHIND THE SCENES: Betty van der Heyden

Elizabeth (Betty) van der Heyden: activist, teacher, ex-political prisoner and one of Dulcie's greatest influences gives us not only a powerful insight into Dulcie’s childhood and political awakening, but her life story in itself is deeply inspiring and should be known more widely. Born in the same year as Dulcie, she was the third of six children born to a father who was a carpenter and a mother who was a housewife and domestic worker. The Septembers and van der Heydens lived around the corner from each other and Dulcie spent countless hours there. Despite their humble council house, Betty’s father encouraged intellectual exchange and political discussions and she learned to speak her mind, was a voracious reader and matriculated at the Athlone High School in 1953.

At that time, nursing and teaching were the only professions for a young woman from Athlone, so she took a two-year teacher training course and began teaching English, social studies and general science at Grassy Park High School in 1956. Her burgeoning political awareness brought her to join a variety of organisations such as the Non-European Unity Movement (NEUM), Teachers League of South Africa (TLSA), Cape Peninsula Students Union (CPSU) and African People’s Democratic Union of Southern Africa (APDUSA). Betty was a founder member of the the Yu Chi Chan Club a study group for Mao Tse Tung’s Yu Chi Chan [Guerrilla Warfare] - their aim was to assess whether and in what ways these guerrilla struggles might be applicable to South Africa’s conditions.

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In December 1962, they disbanded the YCCC and started setting up a network of cells across the Cape Peninsula called the National Liberation Front - to which they recruited CPSU and APDUSA members they thought would be amenable to discussions of guerrilla strategy. Betty recruited Dulcie and Dorothy Alexander, also a teacher, as well as her younger sister Doris van der Heyden. Dulcie and Betty set up an Athlone cell but the soon after the organization was infiltrated by a police spy and Betty was arrested on 18 July 1963 and detained in solitary for four months - the first woman held under the General Law Amendment Act of 1963 - the 0-day detention law. The Times newspaper of April 15 1964 reports:

EIeven men and women, described by the judge as “intellectuals,” were jailed today for terms of 5 to 10 years on charges of having plotted to overthrow South Africa's white Government. The trial began last Nov. 4 and was the second major sabotage trial to be held in South Africa since September. The trial of Nelson Mandela, a former leader of she banned African National Congress, and eight other persons will resume next week in .

Betty - then 28 years old - was given ten years, while the other three women, Dulcie September, Doris van der Heyden and Dorothy Alexander, received five-year sentences. Betty and Dulcie worked in the Worcester prison tailoring shop, sewing uniforms for the warders - Betty earned about R13 over her entire ten years. Betty studied towards a Unisa BA course, receiving a degree in English & Psychology.

While her comrades were released after five years, Betty spent an additional five years at Barberton prison and was released on 12 April 1974. Her siblings had gone overseas, but she wanted to remain in South Africa. In 1978 she and Fikile Bam had a daughter, Tina. In 1979, after her banning order expired, she began working at the Scandanavian-funded South African Prisoners’ Education Trust and in 1986 she returned to her first love of teaching at Heathfield High School and later at South Peninsula High School until her retirement in 2000. Betty is not a household name. But she deserves to be.

Both Betty and Marcus Solomon are interviewed in Murder in Paris and give insightful commentary on their former comrade, Dulcie September.

M U R D E R I N P A R I S N E W S L E T T E R TO READ: All About Agent RS167, the Apartheid 'Super' Spy Journalist and author Jonathan Ancer's book, Spy: Uncovering Craig Williamson, published in 2017 (Jacana Media) is followed by Betrayal: The Secret Lives of Apartheid Spies (Tafelberg Publishers) in 2019; both ask what it takes to deceive those closest to you. Spy tells the story of the seemingly-ordinary Craig Williamson, joined the National Union of South African Students at Wits University in 1972, to subsequently become its president until 1977 when his student political career came to a swift end as he fled the country to continue his "anti-Apartheid work", joining the International University Exchange Fund (IUEF) as deputy director in Geneva.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) submission on Williamson is insightful reading and he was ultimately granted amnesty. The former super spy is a key interview in Murder in Paris, one that director Enver Samuel pursued for a full two years. When probed for his opinion on the Dulcie case, Craig said: “Somebody gave the order to kill Dulcie September. It’s not the fairies – it is somebody who is very different to a fairy”.

Read an extract from Spy – Uncovering Craig Williamson in the Daily Maverick and purchase Betrayal: The Secret Lives of Apartheid Spies at Loot.

M U R D E R I N P A R I S N E W S L E T T E R BEYOND THE FILM: Sharing the Story of Dulcie September

JJufrou September has a primary school named after her in Midrand, Johannesburg and in Arcueil, France. it's a fitting tribute for this former school teacher whose teaching career served as the foundation for her political career, seeding the transition from Athlone to an international anti- apartheid activist in London.

The Murder in Paris Impact team have had some very inspiring conversations in the past month with partners for our screenings programme for schools, although at this point due to COVID-19 restrictions it looks most likely this will be implemented from August 2021. If you would like to assist the campaign, please contact us on [email protected] and Enver on [email protected]

Murder in Paris is a documentary on Dulcie September’s life, directed and produced by Enver Michael Samuel. Coming to SABC3 in 2 parts at 7:30pm on Human Rights Day 21 March and 28 March 2021.

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