Hector Peterson Museum


Many of Johannesburg's attractions are associated with apartheid. The oppression of the indigenous, as well as of the visiting colored population, some time after the arrival of the whites in the country, took a catastrophic scale. On this wave, the unit was subjected not only to public transport and public places, but areas where people lived.

Schoolboys have risen on struggle

Ghetto for black, barracks for colored and chic homes for white "colonists" were the strongest contrast. In addition to this discrimination, in 1976 the local government (the Ministry of National Education) decided to hold most of the subjects in schools in the language of white "aliens" - Afrikaans. Thus, the rights of the indigenous population were violated, which as a result of this law was doomed to complete illiteracy.

Hector Peterson is one of thousands of schoolchildren who resented such lawlessness. He took part in a peaceful demonstration along with thousands of other children and was killed one of the first, almost immediately becoming a cult figure, despite a very young age.

Memorial place in honor of the young hero

The museum in honor of the brave boy was opened in West Orlando (suburb of Johannesburg ) in 2002, a year later of the apartheid museum . Its location - two blocks from the site of the death of Hector Peterson, near the house of Nelson Mandela. The museum became a symbol of the resistance of the indigenous Negro population of South Africa to brutal apartheid.

The construction was carried out exclusively on voluntary donations of city residents. In the halls of the museum you can get information about the events in Soweto and get acquainted with the biography of the brave boy, who at the time of death was only 13 years old.