President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his deep sadness on the passing of veteran photographer and recipient of the National Order of Ikhamanga, Sam Nzima.
Nzima passed away on Saturday night at the age of 83. He had collapsed on Thursday and had been admitted to the Rob Ferreira hospital in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga.
He will be remembered for his iconic photograph of a dying young Hector Peterson during the Soweto uprising in 1976.
It became a symbol of resistance against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in township schools.
Presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko says, “The President has said that Mr Nzima was one of a kind and he used his camera to capture the full brutality of apartheid oppression on the nation’s psyche. It was through his camera that the world got to understand the extent to which apartheid South Africa was prepared to go. The President expresses his most sincere condolences to the Nzima family and he wishes them strength during this difficult time.”
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