That, though, was only the beginning. In Zonderwater jail, he met two kindred spirits: Allan Heyl and Patrick Lee McCall, both experienced bank robbers. Shortly thereafter, Stander and McCall broke out of Zonderwater, returned to spring Heyl and went into action. For two years, they were South Africa’s most-wanted men, robbing 20 banks (which were thereafter referred to as ‘Standered Banks’).
Because of their anti-authoritarian stance and their success at making the police look like fools, the Stander Gang won an impressive following; but the public’s admiration couldn’t save them. McCall was shot down in a gun battle with South African police in January 1984. Ten days later, Stander, who had fled to the US, was gunned down by the cops in Fort Lauderdale while trying to steal a car. Heyl, meanwhile, escaped to the UK, where he was eventually captured and sent back to Johannesburg. He is still serving his sentence in Leeukop Prison, from where he provided director Bronwen Hughes (Forces of Nature) and local writer Bima Stagg with valuable information.
Developed by Seven Arts’ Peter Hoffman, Stander is a UK-South African-Canadian co-production starring Thomas Jane as Stander, David O’Hara (Braveheart) as Heyl and Dexter Fletcher (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) as McCall, with Deborah Kara Unger as Stander’s beloved wife, Bekkie. Locations used so far include Zonderwater jail (where the gang met) and Stander’s actual hide-out in Houghton. The film also shot in Durban, which proved a remarkably realistic substitute for Fort Lauderdale.
“Obviously Stander is the key role and we looked at actors of all different nationalities,” says Verdin. “We felt the nationality wasn’t important: it was finding the right guy who could really play the depth of that character. Stander’s a very complex guy who was this sort of charming, debonair, wonderful raconteur to all his friends, and who was madly in love with his wife. But he also had a darker side to him. We had to find an actor who had the charm and charisma, but we also had to believe that he had an element of danger to him.”
Verdin’s favourite scene in the movie, she adds, is one which goes a long way towards explaining why Stander became such a folk hero in South Africa. “They rob a bank and hear on the radio that the bank manager suspected that his bank might be hit by the gang so he kept half the money at the back,” she chuckles. “When the gang heard this, they did a U-turn, went back to the bank and told the manager that perhaps he didn’t understand this was a bank robbery and took the rest of the money. We were told the story by Heyl during our meeting with him. The cheekiness and audacity of Stander are wonderful.”
Shortly after Stander’s death, South African rocker Piet Botha wrote a song about him. Nearly 20 years later, it’s still part of his repertoire. It goes:
They shot him down in a stranger’s town
Many miles from his home.
Your favourite son is coming back
But he’s coming back all alone.
Oh justice man, oh justice man
I ask you I don’t understand
If he’s so bad, why so many people
Want to shake his hand?
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STANDER
Peter Hoffman
presents a Seven Arts/
The Imaginarium/
Grosvenor Park Productions/
ApolloMedia
co-production
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Prod: Julia Verdin, Chris Roland, Martin Katz; Exec prod: Izidore Codron, Susan Hoffman, Frank Hübner, Jan Frantl; Dir: Bronwen Hughes; Scr: Bima Stagg; Ph: Jess Hall; Prod des: Emelia Weavind; Cost des: Darion Hing; Ed: Robert Iveson; Casting: Christa Schamberger, Janet Meintjes.
With Thomas Jane (Andre Stander), David O’Hara (Allan Heyl), Dexter Fletcher (Patrick Lee McCall), Deborah Kara Unger (Bekkie Stander), Marius Weyers (Major General Frans Stander), Ashley Taylor (Cor Van Deventer).
International distribution:
Seven Arts International.
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Thomas Jane as Stander, with David O'Hara (left) as Allan Heyl and Dexter Fletcher (centre) as Patrick Lee McCall.