JANUARY NEWSLETTER

A misty spring morning in , 29 March 1988. Exiled resident of Athlone, Dulcie September had just visited the post office to collect mail for the ANC office in France, where she served as a Chief Representative of the African National Congress. She would have been completely unaware, as she pressed the lift button to the fourth floor, that an assassin was lurking in the shadows. 5 shots …

At her funeral ANC President Oliver Tambo stated: “The African National Congress make this solemn vow: that these murderers, who today arrogantly strut the globe, will be brought to justice, it might not be tomorrow, it might not be next year, but they will be brought to justice”.

Murder in Paris: a four year journey for director/ producer Enver Samuel

It has been 33 long years since Dulcie’s assassination and there has been no justice for her and her family. This documentary finally gives her a voice and we are hoping it will be the catalyst to bring her name back into public discourse and play a role in reopening an inquest into her untimely death.

Murder in Paris also unveils a number of complex issues that deal with the nature of liberation struggles, the moral and political questions and critically the gaps and silences in the telling of the story of the fight against . Through the telling of the story of this courageous and remarkable person, we are reminded in a powerful way of the immense J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 1

sacrifices that people like Dulcie September and many others made to liberate us. Her personal and political integrity, her principled position, her moral courage and her vision for a better South Africa stands as a strong reminder of how central these values are even today as we confront the agenda item: “unfinished business” of the past and the present. And on that growing list, the unresolved issues and unanswered questions that swirl around the murder of Dulcie September, must be writ large.

Dulcie September’s niece Nicola Arendse, upon viewing the documentary, was moved to say – “I saw my aunt talking for the first time – hearing her voice and seeing her “alive” in the video clips. That was very special, a poignant moment for me. I saw my aunt as-Pa at Rpersonowe, Hon owrahoble didMen twhation she did thoroughly and completely, till the task was done well. She asked questions and challenged those who needed to be challenged, even if it was to produce better work standards. The documentary speaks to her as a freedom fighter and as a person with her own unique character”.

My foremost goal as the producer/ director of Murder in Paris is to ensure that the documentary has not just been made for a broadcast date and then is forgotten. It will also have an active social impact campaign, supported by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, designed for it to ensure maximum exposure at schools and community halls at grassroots level throughout the country - we look forward to sharing the film with you and your communities!

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TO DIARISE: Murder in Paris to premiere on SABC3 on Human Rights Day SABC3 will premiere the first part of an intriguing new film Murder in Paris by veteran filmmaker Enver Samuel (Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Indians Can’t Fly, Someone to Blame: The Ahmed Timol Inquest) on Human Rights Day 21 March 2021. The second chapter follows on 28 March which is the day before the 33rd commemoration of her death on 29 March.

Liberation struggle hero Dulcie September was mysteriously assassinated in the heart of Paris on 29 March 1988. The film explores why this former school teacher from Athlone and principled cadre was murdered through the investigations of veteran Dutch investigative journalist Evelyn Groenink who has tried to piece together why Dulcie was killed.

The film had its start in a chance meeting on 27 April 2017 in Bern, Switzerland where Samuel was attending the Visions du Reel Film Festival. During the Freedom Day celebration at the South African Embassy he struck up a conversation with Randolf Arendse whose brother was married to Dulcie's sister. He'd seen Enver’s award-winning documentary about Ahmed Timol, Indians Can’t Fly. By the end of the evening, Enver agreed to make a film about Dulcie with the blessing of her family. The film is the culmination of this four year journey and includes the 30-year commemoration of Dulcie’s death in March 2018 in Paris as well as never-seen-before in South Africa archive images of this remarkable woman, activist and unsung struggle hero.

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“Dulcie’s life is a reminder to current day South Africa that the purpose of all the sacrifices and struggles of the past were not in vain and that a fair and decent South Africa is still a possibility. Her story needs to be told, it’s a story that will inspire those who strive for democracy and social justice and highlight the role of a selfless unsung heroine”, says Enver Samuel.

BEHIND THE SCENES: Get to know Evelyn Evelyn Groenink started her journalism career in the eighties of the last century at a small left-wing newspaper in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. As correspondent in Central America during the mid- eighties her reports from that region won her ‘runner up’ in a investigating how it was possible Dutch award contest for young that an ANC diplomat was journalists. assassinated in a Western country that formally abhorred apartheid After 1987, partly as a result from and governed by a socialist her association with the Anti- president at the time. Apartheid Movement in the Netherlands, her journalistic focus Gradually discovering that the changed to South and southern subsequent murder of Anton Africa.She was deputy editor for Lubowski in 1989, and the murder Dutch Anti-Apartheid News when of Chris Hani in 1993, showed ANC representative Dulcie similar patterns to what she had September was killed in Paris, discovered in the case of Dulcie France, in 1988. It was this event September, namely arms deals and that prompted her to start

M U R D E R I N P A R I SI N E W S L E T T E R J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 1 namely arms deals and related natural resource exploitation, she developed a specialisation in matters of international arms trade. Incorruptible: The story of the murders of Dulcie September, Anton Lubowski and Chris Hani is the result of her determination to uncover the truth. Evelyn currently acts as investigative editor for the African Investigative Publishing Collective and its partner ZAM in the Netherlands. Incorruptible can be purchased in hard copy at Exclusive Books in SA.

Filming the 2018 commemoration of Dulcie's birthday on 20 August at her alma mater, Athlone High School in Cape Town - actress Denise Newman and Dulcie's nephew Michael Arendse addressed the learners. BEYOND THE FILM: Sharing the Story of Dulcie September Murder in Paris sheds light on the story of Dulcie September and seeks the truth behind the reason for her brutal murder. The film team is planning an impact campaign to ensure that the film not only reaches audiences, but becomes an active tool of engagement to seek fulfillment of the promise Oliver Tambo made more than 30 years ago.

M U R D E R I N P A R I S N E W S L E T T E R J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 1 We invite all supporters of the film to assist us to:

#RememberDulcieSeptember Dulcie’s life is a reminder to current day South Africa that the purpose of all the sacrifices and struggles past were not in vain and that a fair and decent South Africa is still a possibility. Her story needs to be told to inspire those who strive for democracy and social justice and highlight the role of a selfless unsung hero. While many struggle heroes are remembered and revered, Dulcie’s memory is all but erased beyond those who knew her. Murder in Paris seeks to redress this wrong and place Dulcie next to the great names that fought for a free and just South Africa. We aim to place Dulcie into the public discourse through screenings and discussions in partnership with schools, universities, NGO’s and community organizations.

#mercidulcie The film seeks to drive dialogues on post-apartheid trauma and healing. There are more than 300 TRC cases - including Dulcie's - that were left unresolved by the TRC due to limited resources and time. This lack of resolution brings additional pain to families of slain activists. Murder in Paris supports the call to prosecute politically motivated crimes of apartheid era; this is linked to gaining a understanding of the economic workings of apartheid and arms deal corruption. The work of Open Secrets ZA in this regard is ground-breaking - https://www.opensecrets.org.za/

#Justice4Dulcie We would like to use the film to build support for the re-opening of the inquest into Dulcie’s murder in France. The findings of the TRC were unresolved, yet research has uncovered evidence that would validate the re-opening of the case. We are partnering with the Legal Resources Centre in South Africa who are assisting the French legal team in acting for the September Family to pursue the matter. Murder in Paris will form part of the submission to the French legal system.

If you would like to assist the campaign or hear more about our existing planned screenings, please contact us on [email protected] and Enver on [email protected]

M U R D E R I N P A R I S N E W S L E T T E R J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 1 Dulcie September wasn't only murdered but there was an attempt to erase her existence. There was an attempt to remove her from the centre of a very powerful network of players that were supporting the Apartheid government. It was done in a manner that after 30 years we still don't know who killed Dulcie September. ~ Hennie van Vuuren, author - Apartheid Guns and Money

The Dulcie September assassination is actually a code-breaker for the entire corruption story in South Africa and about how the rightwing ethno-nationalist forces of corruption set about destroying the ANC from the inside and attempted to repurpose the state for private gain. ~ Patric Tariq Mellet, heritage expert and activist And in the distance we can hear sounds of steadily running feet, steadfast feet, steady feet. And we know that these sounds that we hear are the sounds of those who are going to eradicate all this ugliness. These sounds that we hear are drawing nearer and nearer. They are getting very close, drawing closer and closer. And the sun creeps over the horizon, adding long silhouettes to the sounds of the steady running feet. ~ Dulcie September – Fast Sounds on the Horizon

What do you think Dulcie was saying with this extract? We'd love to hear your thoughts on our Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

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TO READ: What Can America Learn From South Africa About National Healing?

Twenty-five years ago, after the end of apartheid, South Africa established its Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission’s subsequent public hearings were an attempt to provide victims of the country’s brutal white-nationalist regime a healing forum in which to tell their stories and also be told the truth — by perpetrators, often speaking in exchange for amnesty — about what happened to loved ones who were killed or disappeared. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela was a psychologist on the T.R.C. who worked to “Healing is not an elicit testimony from victims and endpoint, a goal that perpetrators, most famously Eugene de we reach. We have to Kock, a member of the South African police look at it in its force who admitted to scores of state- complexity. But the sanctioned murders. In the years since the process can’t happen T.R.C., Gobodo-Madikizela, now a professor on its own.” at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, has become a leading authority on remorse ~ Pumla Gobodo- and forgiveness, two subjects that remain Madikizela fraught in her country as well as our own. Continue reading in the New York Times: http://ow.ly/THIs50Dk9RE

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

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