Dulcie’s life to play out on French stage

THE stories of female Struggle heroes will not be relegated to the annals of history.

Veteran actress Denise Newman said this was the reason she took up the story about the late Dulcie September in her one-woman play, Cold Case: Revisiting Dulcie September, directed by Basil Appollis.

Anti-apartheid activist September was born in Athlone on August 20, 1935. She was killed outside the ANC’s Paris office on March 29, 1988, shot five times from behind with a .22 calibre silenced rifle as she opened the office after collecting the post. She was 52.

Newman will now perform her play at the Jean Vilar theatre in Paris on March 23 as part of the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of September’s death.

“There are a number of female Struggle heroes who get relegated to the annals of history, and are not celebrated.

“We need to bring into the consciousness those who have contributed to realising our democracy,” she said, adding that uncovering the truth about September’s murder was important for reconciliation.

The anniversary also coincides with the launch of the book Incorruptible – The Story of the Murders of Dulcie September, Anton Lubowski and Chris Hani earlier this week by Dutch investigative journalist Evelyn Groenink.

While it is often thought that the three were assassinated by apartheid forces simply because they were freedom fighters, Groenink’s research, conducted over 30 years, shows that this was not the case.

“In all of this scratching… the truth is being unpacked, layer by layer,” Newman said.

“Within the movement there were people who were not as honourable as the people in Evelyn’s book.

“In all organisations you have those who get corrupted by money and power. We want to bring these stories back into the public domain,” she added.

Coincidentally, Newman and September went to the same high school and both grew up in Athlone.

Newman said she took the project on partly for selfish reasons – this was a work that she could be in charge of.

“It is an emotional story. When you are interviewing the people involved, the family, for them it is as if it (the murder) happened yesterday. You can feel the pain.

“You realise they haven’t had closure, you realise they live with it every day,” Newman said.

In celebration of September’s life, and as acknowledgement of her contribution as a freedom fighter, Newman said she knew she had to take on the role.

“Dulcie was strong, she told it like it is, and didn’t suffer fools,” she said.

September was killled outside the ANC’s Paris office, shot five times