Hector Pieterson was a South African schoolboy who was shot and killed during the Soweto uprising, when police opened fire on students protesting the enforcement of teaching in Afrikaans. The anniversary of his death is designated Youth Day, when South Africans honour young people and bring attention to their needs.
On 16 June 1976, school children protested the implementation of Afrikaans and English as dual medium of instruction in secondary schools in a 50:50 basis. This was implemented throughout South Africa regardless of the locally-spoken language and some exams were also written in Afrikaans. Students gathered to peacefully demonstrate, but the crowd soon became intimidated when the police arrived, and started to throw stones. The police arrived and fired tear gas into the crowd in order to disperse them.
Although the media often named Pieterson as the first child to die that day, another boy, Hastings Ndlovu, was actually the first child to be shot. But in the case of Hastings, there were no photographers on the scene, and his name was not immediately known. When Pieterson was shot, he fell on the corner of Moema and Vilakazi Streets. He was picked up by Mbuyisa Makhubo who, together with Pieterson's sister Antoinette, ran towards Sam Nzima's car. They bundled him in, and journalist Sophie Tema drove him to a nearby clinic where he was pronounced dead. On 16 June 2002 the Hector Pieterson Museum was opened near the place he was shot in Orlando West, Soweto to honour Pieterson and those who died around the country in the 1976 uprising.
Text: Wikipedia
Source link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Pieterson