Introduction

We Never Gave Up (2022), the third film in a trilogy, was premiered to the participants from Khulumani Support Group Western Cape (KSG-WC), in Cape Town on 14 March 2022, during a full day's activities, organised by the Human Rights Media Centre (HRMC), acknowledging their collective input to the series and honouring those who had passed away. This was 20 years after the first film We Never Give Up (2002) and 10 years after the second film, We Never Give Up II (2012). The films were produced by the HRMC in collaboration with KSG-WC and follow the experiences of those who had suffered under the racist apartheid regime in South Africa and who subsequently campaigned within and beyond the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SATRC), which followed the transition to parliamentary elections that saw universal franchise for the first time in South African history, bringing the African National Congress (ANC) to power in 1994. KSG-WC is a regional group of the national Khulumani organisation, and has been seeking acknowledgement, reparations and justice, as well as providing support and solidarity for its members, as they negotiate the legacy of one of the most violent and discriminatory regimes in history, which had lasted from 1948 to 1994. I have written elsewhere about the production of the first two films in the series and here focus on the third film, We Never Gave Up (McLaughlin 2010, 65–80; 2013, 10–19).

Human Rights Media Centre

Founded by the current director, Shirley Gunn, the HRMC is based in Cape Town. Shirley, who was imprisoned during the apartheid years, was a commander in uMkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC, that was to the forefront of resistance to the apartheid state. She founded the HRMC in order to address issues of (mis)representation of those who are most affected by injustices both in past and in present political, economic and social conditions. Much of the research and outputs of the HRMC involves working with individuals, communities and organisations that experience injustice, ranging from discrimination based on race, migration and socio-economic conditions to the legacy of apartheid; the latter includes disappearances, physical and mental torture and injuries, loss of work and property and pension rights.