The Life of Dimitri Tsafendas

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THE MAN WHO KILLED APARTHEID ‘Every day, you see a man committing a very serious crime for which millions of people suffer. You cannot take him to court or report him to the police because he is the law in the country. Would you remain silent and let him continue with his crime, or would you do something to stop him? You are guilty not only when you commit a crime, but also when you do nothing to prevent it when you have the chance.’ – Dimitri Tsafendas Dr Hendrik Verwoerd was murdered by Dimitri Tsafendas on 6 September 1966. In the Cape Supreme Court Tsafendas was found unfit to stand trial on the grounds that he suffered from schizophrenia. The Court found that Tsafendas had no political motive for killing Verwoerd. Tsafendas was declared a State-President’s Patient and was detained, first in prison, then in a mental institution until his death in 1999. For most of his incarceration he was subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment by the prison authorities. Harris Dousemetzis’s groundbreaking story shows in vivid detail that Dimitri Tsafendas was a deeply political person, a communist and the son of an anarchist. He was committed to an independent Mozambique, the country of his birth, and once even travelled throughout the country operating a communist library. He despised Verwoerd for his apartheid policy and the misery inflicted by those who enforced the apartheid laws. He wanted to end the madness of apartheid, so he murdered its creator. THE MAN HARRIS DOUSEMETZIS WITH GERRY LOUGHRAN WITH GERRY ‘This research confirms that there was a cover-up. It shows convincingly that Tsafendas was a political revolutionary, whose assassination of Dr Verwoerd was motivated by a hatred of Dr Verwoerd and all he stood for. He was not an insane killer but a political assassin determined to rid South Africa of the architect of WHO KILLED apartheid. Dousemetzis has done South Africa a service by correcting the historical record.’ – Professor John Dugard APARTHEID 9 781431 427543 THE LIFE OF DIMITRI TSAFENDAS ISBN 978-1-4314-2754-3 www.jacana.co.za HARRIS DOUSEMETZIS WITH GERRY LOUGHRAN THE MAN WHO KILLED APARTHEID REPRINT COVER 35mm spine.indd 1 2019/07/01 10:00 AM.

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Download/Pdf/39666742.Pdf De Vries, Fred (2006)
A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details Restless collection: Ivan Vladislavić and South African literary culture Katie Reid PhD Colonial and Postcolonial Cultures University of Sussex January 2017 For my parents. 1 Acknowledgments With thanks to my supervisor, Professor Stephanie Newell, who inspired and enabled me to begin, and whose drive and energy, and always creative generosity enlivened the process throughout. My thanks are due to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for funding the research. Thanks also to the Harry Ransom Center, at the University of Texas in Austin, for a Dissertation Fellowship (2011-12); and to the School of English at the University of Sussex for grants and financial support to pursue the research and related projects and events throughout, and without which the project would not have taken its shape. I am grateful to all staff at the research institutions I have visited: with particular mention to Gabriela Redwine at the HRC; everyone at the National English Literary Museum, Grahamstown; and all those at Pan McMillan, South Africa, who provided access to the Ravan Press archives.
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