Hector Pieterson

The Hector Pieterson Memorial. PIcture courtesy of FireflyAfrica

On 16 June 1976, news photographer Sam Nzima captured an image of a dying school child that would make history. This school child was Hector Pieterson, a 12-year-old who had been shot by South African police during the Soweto uprising. The image has become iconic internationally in remembering the struggle of South African youth, in particular, against apartheid. Pieterson’s tragic story opened people’s eyes to the violent and brutal acts of the police at the time, and he has become representative of many other lives lost during the apartheid era.

16 June is now known as National Youth Day in South Africa – a tribute to the youth of this country who fought for their rights, against discrimination and for a new democratic South Africa. The Soweto uprising was a series of protests against the National Party (NP) and its oppressive regime, in particular the Afrikaans Medium Decree which forced all schools to make Afrikaans and English dual languages of instruction. On the first day of the uprising, 23 people, including several teenagers, lost their lives. By the end of the year, 566 people had died, killed by both police and protestors.

On the day of Pieterson’s death, thousands of student protestors had gathered and were met by members of the police force near the Phefeni Junior Secondary School in Soweto. The gathering quickly escalated into violence. Witnesses have claimed that people in the crowd were throwing rocks at the police, who fired tear gas in retaliation and then opened fire. Although Pieterson has been reported over the years as the first victim of the shooting, a boy named Hastings Ndlovu was in fact the first to die – however, there were no photographers nearby able to document this and Ndlovu’s identity was not known at the time.

On the day of the protest, the wounded Pieterson was found by 18-year-old student Mbuyisa Makhubo, who picked him up and bundled him into a car. He was driven to a clinic where he was pronounced dead. Nzima’s photograph captures a distressed Makhubo cradling Pieterson in his arms while running alongside Pieterson’s 17-year-old sister Antoinette. Both Makhubo and Nzima went into hiding following the incident, after being harassed by the police. Pieterson and Ndlovu were buried in the Avalon Cemetery in Soweto.

The Hector Pieterson Memorial was erected in Khumalo Street near to where he was shot. Then in 2002, on the anniversary of his death, the Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum in Orlando West opened its doors to the public. It was funded by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Johannesburg City Council. Pieterson’s sister, Antoinette, now works there as a tour guide.