Director of 'Winnie' stands by her documentary

The documentary implicates former Safety and Security Minister, Sydney Mufamadi, as the person who requested the murder case against struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela be reinstated.

The murder case related to the death of young activist Stompie Seipei. 

Mufamadi has rubbished the claims, saying the former leader of the Democratic Party (DP) Tony Leon requested the investigation in his capacity as a member of parliament. 

Lamche apologised to Mufamadi at a press conference on Monday for not giving him a chance to respond to the allegations in the documentary. However, she said she stands by the film.

"The woman in this story was a major political figure who happened to be on the left wing of the ANC. She was demonised, criminalised and sent to court. It was a concerted effort to discredit Nelson Mandela in the first place but then also to discredit the left wing of the ANC," says Lamche. "There was a big struggle for power in the run up to Mandela being released and during the period leading up to the 1994 elections." 

ALSO READ: Former minister denies reopening Winnie Mandela probe

Lamche says the documentary was first screened in June 2017 in South Africa, with Madikizela-Mandela in the audience and no member of the ANC or former member raised an objection. 

She says having two apartheid regime operatives was key to the documentary. 

It features former director of the apartheid government's Covert Strategic Communications (Stratcom) Vic McPherson and former head of the Soweto Murder and Robbery squad, Henk Heslinga.

"Heslinga was a detective in the Soweto murder squad, he was part of the investigations into Stompie's murder in the first place and of course he was key to any re-investigation into the Stompie case," she added. 

Lamche says she continues to receive support for the documentary from Madikizela-Mandela's close friends and family.