Hector Pieterson

Hector Pieterson (1964-16 June 1976) became the iconic image of the 1976 Soweto uprising in apartheid South Africa when a news photograph by Sam Nzima of the dying Hector being carried by a fellow student, was published around the world. He was killed at the age of 12 when the police opened fire on protesting students. For years, June 16 stood as a symbol of resistance to the brutality of the apartheid government. Today, it is known as National Youth Day, a day on which South Africans honour young people and bring attention to their needs.

Hector Pieterson Museum
The museum, which opened on 16 June 2002, follows the chronology of the build-up to 16 June 1976, starting with the way tensions were building among Soweto's school children, with one school after another going out on strike.
The museum stands two blocks from where Hector was shot and fell, on the corner of Moema and Vilakazi Streets in Orlando West, Soweto. There are houses on all four corners of that intersection, so the museum is located up the road in Kumalo Street.
Hector's mother, Dorothy Molefi, lives in nearby Meadowlands. "I'm very proud that there's a museum for Hector, and that children are learning about him in history," she says. "We still visit his grave every few months."

Sam Nzima