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Apartheid exposé goes to high court

Johannesburg - Journalist and film maker Sylvia Vollenhoven is taking her fight to show the story of apartheid corruption to court.

Her lawyers filed a notice of opposition in the South Gauteng High Court in response to a case brought by the SABC attempting to interdict the footage and research from her documentary Project Spear.

SABC2 originally commissioned Project Spear from the veteran reporter.

It tells the story of vast sums of money - estimated at R60bn – siphoned from state coffers by apartheid-era bankers, officials and politicians. A large portion of it was paid to Volkskas bank, which was later amalgamated into Absa.

Although a former MI6 spy offered the South African government a plan to recover the funds, the ANC allegedly did not take action to bring these apartheid leaders to book.

The Public Protector is investigating the matter, but the SABC decided not to screen the documentary.

After it was mothballed, Vollenhoven tried to buy back the rights to her film, but the process stalled. When investigative magazine Noseweek tried to screen it at a literary festival, the SABC sent lawyers to stop them.

The SABC’s Vuyo Mthembu told City Press it is Vollenhoven’s right to oppose their action.

Asked if the documentary would ever be screened, he said it was "an editorial decision" to shelve it and it would be screened "as and when the editorial decision is made".

He added: "The material can also be exploited in other ways."

 
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