Our documentary about apartheid SA 'is not anti-ANC' - AfriForum
3 December 2015
Pretoria - AfriForum on Wednesday released the trailer of the documentary Tainted Hero, which aims to tell an "alternative narrative" about South Africa's history.
But, says the film's writer, the documentary is not "an anti-ANC film".
The documentary is expected to be released in 2016.
It tells the story of apartheid South Africa during the 1980s.
Writer Ernst Roets, who is also AfriForum's deputy CEO, said the film was initially planned as a short 15-minute documentary of 15 minutes, but had turned into an almost two-hour-long film.
"Although many might believe that it is an anti-ANC film, it is not. The film tells an alternative narrative from what is usually heard," said Roets.
He said the general perception was that "everyone involved with the ANC during the time are heroes while everyone else is labelled as villains".
The official synopsis of the film reads: "Tainted Heroes is a documentary film about the untold story of the ANC and its struggle for power in South Africa. It features a variety of high-profile political actors, experts and commentators."
In a clip shown from the rough cut of the documentary, deputy president of the Azanian People's Organisation (Azapo) Strike Thokoane tells of how the ANC contributed to violence during the uprising.
"It was a cultural matter and even if there are internal politics, they were and continue to be willing to use violence," Thokoane says in the clip.
Commenting afterwards, he said that just because people disagreed did not mean that they should kill each other.
Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who also appears in the documentary, said that a selective narrative - where all those against the ANC were labelled as bad guys - had been carefully preserved.
"In the stories that the people have been told, it is clearly understood that the ANC are the good guys," Buthelezi said.
The event was also attended by singers Chris Chameleon and Steve Hofmeyr.
This article first appeared on News24 (2 December 2015) – see here.
