Human Rights Violation Hearings — Soweto — 1996-07-22

SAM NZIMA: In June 16 1976 students started to march from Naledi High School.  They were targeted to the High School to march in protest against the medium of instruction in Afrikaans.  The march started from there moving down to Skanentwana, Gungenyane, Morris Isaacson and Orlando West High which is Madziki High School.  On arriving there while they were still waiting for the other students to come out, of course their march was a peaceful one from the beginning, the students were carrying the placards which were written that "We are not educated but certificated", "Afrikaans must be abolished", "We are being fed by the crumbs of Education", those were the placards written carried by the students marching towards Orlando West High where they were
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waiting for the other students to come out to join the march.
 While they were still waiting there for the students to come out one of the students came running and he said "Police are coming in a big convoy, watch out".  He was warning the other students.  When the police arrived in seven vans and one big truck one White man who was in a police uniform carried his stick in his armpit which I think he was a major warned the students that they must disperse immediately.  The students started singing Nkosi Sikelele Afrika and then again the second warning he said I am giving you three minutes to disperse here.
 The students continued singing Nkosi Sikelele Afrika and it was hardly three minutes when he pulled out his firearm and he shot directly at the students.  Now all hell broke loose.  All these policemen were shooting at the students randomly.  
 During the shooting I saw a student fall down and another student picked him up and I rushed there to take a picture.  I took six sequence shots of that picture of the student, whom we later discovered that was Hector Petersen, and another student by the Umbiswe Makuba picked Hector Petersen up and Antoinette, the sister who is next to me here of Hector Petersen, she was crying hysterically alongside where Makuba was carrying Victor Petersen running towards the direction where our Press car was parked. 
 After taking those pictures I helped Antoinette and Umbiswa Makuba to put Hector Petersen in the Press car to be taken to the Pafene clinic where he was certified dead by the doctor. 
 On that afternoon Soweto was on fire, many things 
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happened.  The same afternoon the picture of Hector Petersen was published in all the local newspapers and abroad as well as the television. The students were harassed on that all over Soweto and even the East Rand. 
 Because of that picture of Hector Petersen which was used in the Press I was a victim of the police harassment. I was therefore compelled to leave my job as a journalist to hide in the Eastern Transvaal, which is now known as Mpumalanga.  I couldn't stay alone there but my wife she was a sister at Baragwanath Hospital, she was also forced to leave her job and join me there in hiding.  Because of that picture I lost my job.  I was frustrated, I couldn't be a journalist anymore.  Because had I stuck to journalism I was going to be shot or locked up in jail.  
 The other group, the owners of the World Newspapers and the Star exploited me a lot, because they did not pay me a cent for that picture.  The picture circulated throughout the whole world which I believe the other group is ripping the royalties of that picture.
 Political organisations or liberation movements are also using that picture very extensively.  Some of them they did not even know who took the picture, but they are benefitting out of that picture.
 I do believe now since it's a new South Africa, a new government they will recognise my work which has contributed to change in South Africa when it comes to the education of the children of South Africa.  I lost my job because of that picture.  I am no longer a journalist.  I am in a small business which is also no longer functioning very well down there in the Eastern Transvaal. That's what happened on June 16 1976.
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YASMINE SOOKA: Thank you.  I'd like to ask you a few questions please for clarification.  On that particular day were you alerted to what was going to happen prior to the march taking place, how did you come to be where you were, where the march was taking place?

SAM NZIMA: Yes.  I was assigned to cover the march by our late editor Percy Gobozo who told me on Tuesday afternoon that tomorrow morning, which was Wednesday there will be a march of the students to protest against the medium of instruction which was Afrikaans.  So that morning I woke up early to Naledi High School to start the march with the students.  I marched with them from Naledi High up to Orlando West High.

YASMINE SOOKA: Could you tell me whether your editor knew, before he had assigned you to covering the march, whether he was aware of the fact that there was going to be this march which would take this particular direction or was it simply a march which was meant to start as a protest, could you tell us a little bit more about that please?

SAM NZIMA: We did not predict any danger or anything that is going to happen to take the student's life or anybody's life.  We thought that is going to be a peaceful march because the students were just protesting, arm-less, just carrying their placards, that was written all they wanted to get.

YASMINE SOOKA: Living in the township were you aware of the tensions that were seething at the time which gave vent to this protest march?

SAM NZIMA: There was no tension prior to this march but the tension and everything started after the march and the shooting of the students.
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YASMINE SOOKA: Do you think that the police were prepared, in a sense, to deal with this march?

SAM NZIMA: Yes they were prepared to deal with this march, because that was my first time to see the casper which we called a hippo.  We did not know when did they get this big vehicle to come and shoot at the students at that time.  It was immediately after Hector Petersen was shot down, we saw a big convoy of caspers coming to Soweto and everybody was teargassed at the place where the shooting took place.

YASMINE SOOKA: When the policeman who was in charge gave the order to fire, besides giving the students a warning to disperse did he not attempt to use any other methods of getting them to disperse, for instance by using teargas or rubber bullets, or was the first instruction simply for them to disperse and in the next few minutes the order came to shoot?

SAM NZIMA: Nothing else was used except the live ammunition which was used to shoot the student direct and they did not shoot in the air, they shot direct to the students.  I was there, I saw it.

YASMINE SOOKA: In your opinion the shooting was meant to kill?

SAM NZIMA: Correct, it was meant to kill.

YASMINE SOOKA: As a Black journalist you were able to move around quite freely in the townships because what we do have which has come to us through reports at the time is that journalists, other than black journalists are not allowed to enter the townships, could you tell us about what happened and whether you covered anything else after that particular day?

SAM NZIMA: From the beginning students were very friendly with the journalists, but later the student becomes arrogant SOWETO HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
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and they are furious to see the journalist taking pictures.  Because what happened is that the police used to make cuttings from the newspapers' pictures and hunt for this student carrying the pictures of the student.  So from there the relationship between the journalist and the student was bad.  In Soweto the community were accepting the journalists but the students were not.