The history behind the iconic Youth Day photo

POLOKWANE – Youth Day is a day in which South Africans honour the youth who were ambushed by the apartheid regime police in Soweto on 16 June 1976.

One of the most iconic photos from that day is that of Mbuyisa Makhubu holding Hector Pieterson in his arms, alongside Antoinette Pieterson.

On the morning of June 16, 1976, thousands of black students went on a protest rally from their schools to Orlando Stadium in Soweto. They were protesting against an official order which made Afrikaans compulsory in black township schools throughout the country.

An estimated 20 000 learners from high schools in Soweto decided to hold a protest against the order.

Police were called in to disperse the crowds and things got out of control when the riots broke out. Hundreds of students were killed as a result.

A 15-year-old Antoinette Sithole was one of the learners hiding in a strangers house and when she crept out of her hiding place, she saw her 12-year-old brother, Hector Pieterson, across the street. While singing the then, banned liberation anthem, Nkosi Sikelel’iAfrika, an angry commander shot his gun directly into the crowd of singing learners. Mbuyisa Makhubu, an 18-year-old man, who was not part of the protest, was at home when he heard the gunshot.

Makhubu saw a boy fall down and grabbed him, running for help. Antoinette saw Mbuyisa running and started questioning him. Even though a car stopped to take them to the nearest clinic, it was too late as Hector was dead. Hector was the first to die on this day and other brutal killings, like setting people on fire, took place after that.

The publication of this photo was the start of the end of apartheid in South Africa. Due to threats to his life, the photographer, Sam Nzima, a 42-year-old photojournalist with The World newspaper, had to quit his job and move back to his home town. Two years later, the government closed The World.

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Antoinette helped set up the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum in Soweto, which was opened on 16 June 2002. This was done in the honour of Hector and those who died around the country in the 1976 uprising.

According to SAHistory.org, official figures state 23 people had been killed, but some reports estimated that it was at least 200.