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'I don't want to see a white face,' says Mugabe - Video

by Staff reporter
10 Apr 2015 at 03:59hrs | Views
President Robert Mugabe made a brief appearance at the Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto on Thursday to conclude his two-day state visit of South Africa.

Mugabe spent an hour in the museum.

Exiting the museum, he was cheered by locals.

As he walked past, a television journalist asked what emotions his return to Soweto evoked.

When Mugabe saw a white person behind her, he pushed the microphone away and reportedly said: "I don't want to see a white face."

Watch the video


Hector Pieterson (1963 - 16 June 1976) became the subject of an iconic image of the 1976 Soweto uprising in South Africa when a news photograph by Sam Nzima of the dying Hector being carried by another student while his sister ran next to them, was published around the world. He was killed at the age of 13 when the police opened fire on protesting students.

For years, 16 June stood as a symbol of resistance to the brutality of the apartheid government. Today, it is designated National Youth Day - when South Africans honour young people and bring attention to their needs.

On 16 June 2002 the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum was opened near the place he was shot in Orlando West, Soweto to honour Hector and those who died around the country in the 1976 uprising. Funded by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (R16-million) and the Johannesburg City Council (R7,2 million), it has become a major tourist attraction.

The start of the museum begins with pictures of Hector Pierterson's death. The museum fuses memorabilia with modern technology and cultural history. Currently, in 2010, Hector's sister Antoinette, who is seen in the famous photograph, works at the museum as a tour guide.

Source - online
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