Struggle activist Dulcie September honoured in exhibition
Clippings from personal archive, police records, newspapers
INSIGHTS into the life of Dulcie September, one of the country’s foremost female anti-apartheid activists, will be on exhibition in the city. The Dulcie September Travelling
Exhibition, in conjunction with the provincial Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, opened at the Wolfgat Environmental Education Multipurpose Centre in Tafelsig, where pupils from Chris Hani High School in Khayelitsha and Cedar High School in Mitchells Plain had the first opportunity to peruse it.
The pupils’ visit coincides with a programme aimed at raising awareness of local history through workshops and exhibitions.
Mayoral committee member for safety and security; and social services JP Smith said the exhibition commemorated September’s life through her family’s personal archives, police records, records from her Paris office and newspaper clippings.
It will be open to the public today, before moving to the Dulcie September Civic Centre in Athlone. The exhibition will be moved to other facilities around the city.
“History helps us understand who we are, how we got here and shines a light on past mistakes we should work on so that we do not repeat them. Despite what some may believe, history is interesting, meaningful and provides insight into the people who helped shape our country,” Smith said.
The exhibition is part of a broader heritage programme that aims to create platforms for dialogue on issues of preservation, conservation and building civic pride.
September was the ANC’s representative in France.
On March 29, 1988, she was shot five times from behind with a .22 calibre rifle, which had a silencer, in front of the ANC’s office in Paris. She posthumously received South Africa’s highest honour, the Order of Luthuli, in 2009.
Born in Gleemore, Athlone, she received her teacher’s diploma from the Battswood Teachers Training School in Salt River in 1955.
She subsequently became involved in a student union and a militant study group before she was arrested in 1964, tried for sabotage and subversion, and sentenced to five years in prison.
After her release, she left the country on an exit visa and headed for London, where she joined the ANC and the party’s women’s league.
She was appointed ANC head of research in France, Switzerland and Luxembourg. In France, a school, street and a square were named after her in 1998.
The Athlone Civic Centre was renamed the Dulcie September Civic Centre in 2013.