Dulcie September, died 1988

[Magda Hassan]

Relevant section of a report into censorship in South Africa from The Anti-Censorship Programme Third progress report to the Open Society Foundation for South Africa March 2004.

2.7. The Dulcie September book


In November last year, the ACP was approached with a request from Maggie Davey- an independent publisher- to give opinion on a book written by Evelyn Groenink an independent journalist in regards to the 1988 assassination of Dulcie September. September was the then ANC representative in Paris. The publisher’s interest was whether or not the book would potentially result in defamatory suits and if so whether the FXI would be willing to provide legal support

Originally published in Dutch, the book’s primary focus is on the assassination of Dulcie September. However, it also investigates and makes certain connections around the murders of Anton Lubowski, then prominent SWAPO lawyer, in 1989, and Chris Hani, former commander of Umkhonto We Sizwe and General Secretary of the South African Communist Party in 1993.

In all these assassinations, the author shows (or attempts to show) that the victims were killed because they stood in the way of the French and French interests. In the case of September, the author alleges that she stumbled upon evidence of French collaboration with the apartheid government over the then South African nuclear armament programme. For Lubowski, the author argues that he refused to accede to the plans of international Mafia groups who sought Casino rights, oil exploration ventures and transport opportunities for ELF the French oil giant as well as other Franco-Italian international dealers, with the newly constituted government of Namibia.

Hani's case involves a wider conspiracy beyond the accepted right-wing plot in that his incorrigible nature posed a threat to French interests around arms deals with the then ANC government in waiting. A number of companies such as Thompson-CSF (now Thales, and currently embroiled in the SA multi-billion dollar arms scandal) are mentioned as having stood to loose if Hani -as was likely to be given his influence and popularity- became the defense minister and possibly even Mandela's successor.

There are many individuals mentioned in the book who may want to sue on allegations of defamation. The main ones are firstly Alain Guenon, a renowned French arms dealer and international financial kingpin. He is linked to all the three deaths. Secondly, Tokyo Sexwale, a former Premier of Gauteng Province, deputy to Chris Hani. He is now one of the richest people in South Africa. He is portrayed as possibly 'corrupt' or not averse to cutting deals with the French. In actual fact, the author raises controversial points on the possibility of his having accepted to do what Hani wasn't prepared to do i.e. smooth the way for French arms merchants with the incoming ANC government.

Thirdly, the family of Joe Modise. Modise was the first black defense minister of the new SA and Hani's boss as the head of Umkhonto We Sizwe during the liberation struggle. At the time of his death in 2002, there was already a sizeable cloud hanging over his head in relation to his 'below the board' contracts for certain favoured companies involved in the SA arms deal. In the book, he is presented as a corrupt character and though as a dead person he cannot sue, his family or estate may claim defamation by association.

Other persons mentioned in the book include Mathews Phosa, an advocate and former Premier of Mpumalanga Province during the Mandela administration. He was appointed by the ANC in 1993 to head a committee that investigated the Hani murder but the committee's findings were not conclusive. Nevertheless, Evelyn has tied him to a questionable housing project initiated in his province and alleges that he may have taken kickbacks in the process. Though Phosa does not have a reputation for cleanliness, he has already hinted to Maggie Davey- the intending publisher, that unless the passages referring to him are deleted or edited he stands to be "very rich".

ACP's general view is that this book is a very interesting historical narrative of South Africa's troubled past. According to SA's common law of defamation, the probable defenses that both Evelyn and Maggie can raise are one, truth and in the public interest and two, reasonableness, i.e. that they have taken all reasonable steps to establish the veracity and authenticity of their information. Furthermore on the second defense, the courts have pointed out that political expression will normally invite a higher degree of protection as compared to other forms of expression and this book is in my opinion, such a case.

The problem nevertheless is that it is difficult to sufficiently establish the truthfulness of the allegations unless for instance documents can be produced which is certainly impossible. The first defence would not therefore be good enough. On reasonableness, both the author and publisher would have to show that they took all necessary steps such as proper research, verification and a sober analysis of the information in their hands. Before a progressive bench, they could possibly get away with it.

For the FXI, this book is a good case for testing the right to freedom of expression and the flexibility of the courts when interpreting s16 of the constitution on matters of defamation. Our problem however is that we do not have the funds to engage the services of an advocate to represent the two in court. Maggie runs a small independent publishing house called Jacana Media and hence the reason for her initial fears of getting the book in the market in case she gets slapped with a barrage of law suits.

In February 2004, Witold Waluz, brother of Janus Waluz (the latter was convicted for the murder of Chris Hani and jailed for life), sued Maggie Davey and her publishing company for defamation. Witold asked the court to place an interdict on the publication of the book and that he also be given access to the manuscript for his comments prior to publication. The court declined to grant his prayers and the case will proceed to a full hearing at a later date.

A Namibian individual named Andreas Guibbeb has also threatened legal action over claims in the book that he and his late brother Hans Guibbeb were allegedly apartheid agents during the 1980s.

In December, the ACP sent a request to the Amsterdam based Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (Niza) asking whether they are in a position to co-publish the book. If not, we inquired whether they would be able to provide the FXI with funds to defend the publisher and the book's author in court. Though this matter was raised again during a trip to Amsterdam in January, no response has ever been received from Niza.

After commencement of the lawsuit, the programme sent appeals for financial assistance to the World Press Freedom Committee, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, Niza (a reminder), International PEN and the Commonwealth Press Union. None of them have offered any help though the last group has provision for expert legal advice rather than direct financial assistance.


We are hopeful that funds will be secured either locally or internationally but the case will be handled more effectively once the Defense Fund is established.
http://www.ifj.org/.../Third%20progress%...202004.doc