Home Destinations Africa and Middle East South Africa Johannesburg Sights Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum

Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum Review

Read our Johannesburg sights reviews. Or post your own.

Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum

Address: Khumalo and Phela Sts., Orlando West, Soweto
Phone: 011/536-0611

Category: Memorials/Monuments
Location: Soweto

Write a review | Avg. member rating: 5.0/5

Fodor's Review:

Opposite Holy Cross Church, a stone's throw (literally, in those days) from the Tutu and Mandela homes, the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum is a crucial landmark. Pieterson, a 14-year-old student, was the first victim of police fire on June 16, 1976, when schoolchildren rose up to protest their second-rate Bantu (black) education system. The memorial is a paved area with benches for reflection, an inscribed stone and simple water feature, but in the museum are grainy photographs and films that bring that fateful day to life. Small granite blocks in the museum courtyard are a tribute to the 350 children among the more than 500 people who died during this violent time.

Cost: R15
Open: Mon.-Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-4

Find more sights in Johannesburg »

Member Reviews and Ratings

Reviewed by lmcarbonell from New York on 7/28/07
This museum is excellently curated. First, it provides a context for the student uprisings in Soweto by presenting information on the educational system at the time. It also integrates the surrounding neighborhood into the exhibit through the use of windows and captions. As it describes the events of June 16, the museum uses oral accounts as well as photographs and films to achieve a balanced perspective. Despite being named after Hector Pieterson, the museum does not seek to glorify him or turn him into a heroic figure; rather, it emphasizes what an ordinary boy he was, which somehow makes his death all the more poignant.