Zolile Hector Pieterson (18 August 1963 to 16 June 1976) was a South African schoolboy who was shot and killed at the age of 12 during the Soweto uprising of 1976, when police opened fire on black students protesting the enforcement of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction for all school subjects. The pupils wanted to learn in their own languages, mainly Xhosa and Zulu, rather than in Afrikaans, which was mostly spoken by the white and coloured populations. A news photograph by Sam Nzima showing the mortally wounded boy being carried by another Soweto resident while his sister ran beside them was published around the world. The anniversary of his death, 16 June, is the designated Youth Day in South Africa.
Facts
RoleSouth African schoolboy killed in the Soweto uprising 1 Connections
In Era
Source Hector Pieterson (Wikipedia)
Participant In
Source Wikipedia: Soweto uprising
Sources
1. Hector Pieterson (Wikipedia)
Lead
was a South African schoolboy
Lead [role]
was a South African schoolboy who was shot and killed at the age of 12 during the Soweto uprising in 1976
Lead [birth-year]
18 August 1963
Lead [death-year]
16 June 1976
In Era: The Cold War, Lead [in-era]
during the Soweto uprising in 1976
View the SourceWikipedia: Soweto uprising
Participant In: Soweto uprising, Article bodyQuote, Participant In: Soweto uprising, Article body
Among the first students to be shot dead were 15-year-old Hastings Ndlovu and 12-year-old Hector Pieterson, who were shot at Orlando West High School.
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