A HISTORIC ACCOUNT OF SOUTH AFRICA’S SOWETO UPRISING BY THE PHOTOGRAPHER WHO CAPTURED IT
Hector Pieterson* was shot on the corner of Moema and Vilakazi Streets in Orlando West, Soweto, 16 June 1976. Just one photographer, Sam Nzima, was there as documentary witness when the boy fell. Pieterson’s crumpled body was picked up by Mbuyisa Makhubo who, together with Hector’s sister Antoinette, ran towards a press car. Nzima took the photograph. It is this image that now defines the bloody birth of the Soweto uprising.
On that day, South African police opened fire on approximately 10 000 students of school-going age in Soweto. The students had gathered to protest the compulsory use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. At least 23 deaths occured on the first day of the uprising, while thousands were injured. Police ordered hospitals to report anyone receiving treatment for gunshot wounds.
“After taking that picture a police captain hit me across the face with a baton fracturing my nose.” — Peter MagubaneThe result of the clash was fomentation and unrest across the country. Many students and student leaders involved in the 1976 riots went into exile, where some were trained to become MK cadres. June 1976 is seen as a catalyst for increased resistance to the apartheid regime, and a factor in its eventual dismantling more than a decade later.
[*Pieterson is the family’s preferred spelling, despite Hector’s name being spelled “Peterson” since 1976. Their family name was originally Pitso. The Pitsos decided to change their surname to Pieterson to pass as Coloured.]
In the lead-up to Youth Day this Thursday, we will be looking at the 1976 uprising, particularly how it has been constructed over time. In this instalment, we include TRC testimony from Peter Magubane, an award winning photo-journalist who documented the Soweto uprising and was subsequently assaulted, harassed and detained by the police. He was also placed under a banning order.
Magubane recalls that “June the 16th was not effectively covered by all newspapers. There were very few newspapers that covered June 16 and the subsequent days after that … Most of our pictures were sent outside, were syndicated to newspapers around the world. This is why the world knows Soweto so well because we were able to send pictures out, when in fact the police insisted that material should not be sent outside.”
Magubane’s coverage of the 1976 riots for the Rand Daily Mail garnered him worldwide recognition and acclaim.
In the following excerpt, Magubane speaks about his experiences — specifically what he saw — during the Soweto uprising.
TRC HEARING: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, SUBMISSIONS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
22 July 1996
SOWETO
DAY 1
PETER MAGUBANE
MR MAGUBANE: …On June 15 there was a write-up in the Star that said “Students march on the 16th”. We didn’t pay much attention because there hadn’t been any marches by students, but I thought it wise that I should contact my office, the Rand Daily Mail and let them know about this and ask them to provide me with a car so that I can cover the event. A car was sent to me.
I went into Orlando West on the 16th. I drove to Mafulo where I came across schoolchildren running towards the Vocational Training Centre. I immediately got out of my car and started taking pictures. I had just shot two frames when there was an objection from the crowd that I should not take pictures because they might be identified by the police. I quickly said to them no I think here you are mistaken because if you are brutalised and you are killed by the police no one will know as to what has taken place. They still objected. I said it is necessary for the Press to be allowed and do their work as easily as possible. It is necessary to document this event so that your people and the world can see as to how apartheid operates in this country. Fortunately they relented and this is fine. I said to them I ask you even those that are not of our colour they should also be allowed because they are also documenting. They said fine there will be no problem.
Immediately after talking to them there was a White van that was driven by a Western Board official. They immediately went over to the car and tried to pull this man out. I quickly stopped taking pictures and went over there and said this will not help your cause at all. Leave this man alone, let him go wherever he’s going to. Don’t do anything to him. Fortunately this crowd did listen, they listened to me and this man was able to drive where he was driving to.
I then left that crowd, went into Sizwe intersection. When I got there I found schoolchildren with placards that read “Away with Afrikaans”, “We do not want Afrikaans in our schools”. Immediately I got out of my car, as I photographed that a White policeman pulled out his gun, the children ran in different directions. One of these children was chased and fortunately again this man, the policeman did not fire. He chased and the youngster and managed to escape. Round about ten o’clock we heard that a child was killed in Orlando West. That is when everything went wild. Soweto changed the tone of the morning to a different tone. The students became angry. Anything that belonged to the Western Board was set alight. Anything, any car that belonged to a government official or White businessman was set on fire.
Soweto was a different place altogether that day. Police were not able to come into the township after they had killed Hector Petersen, they were kept at bay, out of the township. It was only late in the afternoon that they made their way through into the township and began firing teargas, rubber bullets.
I then drove up to Orlando West again where I found the body of Dr Edelstein. That time the police had managed to come in. The police were surrounding the body. There was a placard that was put on his head that read “Afrikaans is a drug to our children”. I photographed that and went to near Tshabalala Garage in Jabavu. There I found a body of a man that was driving a truck that belonged to his employer. He was asked to hand the truck over. He refused and said I am working for my children. He was mercilessly killed and set alight. It was for the first time for me to see a charred body of a human being. Now I do not know whether this was by the students or it was by people who take advantage of occasions, like criminals. I left that scene It was now becoming dark. The Maponya corner was on fire. Cars were burning, police could not come into that area. Even if they tried to come in it was difficult. It was also difficult for camera people to take pictures openly but we managed to do our job. Then I went down to Mafula North where I found a man killed, his wife was next to the body, I followed that up.
The next day was the 17th, I went to Alexandra Township. Now in Alexandra Township it was a different story from Soweto. The police went in there with the aim of killing people for they did not use any teargas nor rubber bullets. I saw a man being hit who was right inside the toilet, who had done absolutely nothing. He was sitting in the toilet relieving himself. He was shot and killed.
After taking pictures of that man one of the policeman came and put the muzzle of his gun on my temple and said I must “F off”. Yes I did. I went to another section. I did my job again. A Chinese shop was on fire and the Indian section of Alexandra Township was also on fire. The police tried to use the Indians against our people by using their shops as places where they can pick up food and cold drink and this annoyed the residents of Alexandra Township for they thought that the Indian community in Alexandra were in cahoots with the police.
I saw children, adults, mothers die in the hands of the police in Alexandra. A young woman who was not far from me on 2nd Avenue was hit with a bullet on her stomach, ripped open her stomach. If you have seen the pictures on the wall that picture is there, of that lady. Whether she died or not I don’t know.
After taking that picture a police captain hit me across the face with a baton fracturing my nose. I fell to the ground. When I got up he said take out your film and expose it to light. I said I cannot do that. He said I’ll hit you again. I slowly took out the film, as I opened the cassette I realised that this was history that I am about to destroy, history that I could never regain again. To me that was more hurtful than my fractured nose. I knew with my nose I could have it fixed, but with the images that I had got for the day I knew I could never, never have those images again. This is why I called my exhibition “June 16 Never, Never Again”. At the same time I said to myself this man must be stupid not to know what is important because that was evidence for him to use perhaps against me. I reported that matter but nothing happened to it. I was never told whether he was being prosecuted or the case was going on or not.
Now I am going to deal with the days subsequent to, 16, 17 18, 19 and 20. I saw policemen ferry hostel dwellers to Pumlung Station, and I saw them a number of times ferrying the hostel dwellers with their trucks and cars. I waited for the hostel dwellers as they were marching on to Mzimhlophe. I took a picture from a distance. The picture is there too.
Things were becoming worse. I immediately reported the matter to the Orlando Police Station. I spoke to the station commander who said to me we have requested your help but the community did not want to help us. We now have our own people to help us. There is nothing that I can do for you.
I went back to where I was in Meadowlands. I saw children die in the hands of the police. One child was hit in front of me but because the police were watching I could not take any pictures. As they left I took the child, put the child in my car and took her to the hospital, came back, carried on with my work. The same evening I went to Mzimhlophe Hostel which was on fire. I took pictures there, went back to the office.
On my way to the office I went past my home in Diepkloof. I found that my house was on fire. I looked, there was nothing I could do, I had to get back to the office to process my films because a good story that does not make the paper is not a story. Fortunately the Rand Daily Mail was able to get me accommodation for the week. I could not go to my house, everything was burnt out. I made a report the next day. I was told that we have too many things in our hands, there is absolutely nothing that we can do for you with your house. It is you, the community of Soweto that started this, and therefore stay with it.
The next day I went back to Mzimhlophe, the hostel dwellers were on the warpath, anything that was young was killed, injured, even we camera people and reporters we could not work openly. That very evening I called Mangosuthu Buthelezi in the presence of my editor. I asked him to come to Soweto to try and speak to the hostel dwellers for things are getting out of control. He promised to come. The next day he arrived at the hostel. There was a big Mbizo attended by the hostel dwellers, the police and some members of the community. Now these men were being paid by the police. They were given a carton of mageu and a loaf of bread to kill their own people. The community of Meadowlands, Mzimhlophe and Killarney came together and drove the hostel dwellers out of the Mzimhlophe Hostel. For about six months the hostel was empty, there was no one in the hostel, but they had already done their dirty work. A lot of people were killed in Mzimhlophe. A lot of people were killed in Zone 1, Meadowlands. At some point when it was difficult to operate I got into a rubbish bin with the help of the community, I was able to take pictures that you see today, some of the pictures that are making history today. If it had not been for the community we the Press people would not have been able to do the type of work that we did from day 1 June 16 up to the last days of June 16 because it did not end there. It went up to the 80’s, beginning of the 80’s.
Now I did not only do Soweto and Alexandra Township, I did Katlehong, I did Kwatema, I did Mamelodi Pretoria. I did Duduza. I went to Middelburg and the furthest place that I went to was the Eastern Cape. All these places it was people were crying of police brutality. I was able to see the differences in the action of the police, Soweto, Alexandra and these other areas.
After the first day, the days after the first day Soweto was again different from any of the townships for the police were now not playing but killing. You woke up in the morning, down the streets you would find ten bodies lying covered in newspapers. ’76 was very interesting because students were not people that bought newspapers, but from the first day the circulation of newspapers rose. Students began to read newspapers. The community began to read newspapers. These newspapers we also used to cover the dead. There was a green car which was called the notorius green car. I followed that green car from township to township. It used to kill men, women and children indiscriminately. If it came across people standing in a group they would just open fire. It was driven by two White policemen. I was following behind in my Volkswagen, and I don’t understand why they did not recognise me. Wherever they shot, if there was someone that needed assistance I would become an ambulanceman, pick up the body, take it to the hospital if the person is still alive.
Sometimes my colleagues wanted to know from me whether was it right for me to assist because my work is to photograph, and I said if my editor ever said to me I should not help, I should not give help when it is necessary, then my editor can go to hell. I am the one that feels the pinch. I am the one that should make that decision for I am the one that is taking pictures. And I made those decisions. In cases where I can take pictures and not help I will do so. In cases where I have to assist I stopped taking pictures as long as I have one picture that I can show I stop and I give help. It is a very high price to pay but in some instances you have to do it.
If it was not for the community of all these places I would not have survived. I would not have made the history that is made today.
