Sam Nzima remembered at memorial service
Iconic and acclaimed photographer Sam Nzima was remembered by friends and colleagues at a memorial service held yesterday.
A painter paints a portrait of internationally renowned photographer Sam Nzima at a memorial for the photographer, 17 May 2018, hosted by the Sowetan in Parktown. The photographer died at 83 years old at a hospital in Mpumalanga on Saturday.Nzima is best known for his photo of a dying young Hector Pieterson taken during the 1976 uprising. He’ll be laid to rest on Saturday in a special provincial funeral. Picture: Michel Bega
Photographer Sam Nzima, best known for his iconic image of a dying Hector Pieterson being carried during the 1976 Soweto riots, was remembered by his colleagues and friends at a memorial service in Parktown yesterday morning.
The lauded photojournalist died at a Mpumalanga hospital on Saturday. He was 83.
“He is the kind of flame that will not be extinguished, even by the gale force winds of a society that often forgets,” said Professor Somadoda Fikeni at the memorial.
Nzima will be laid to rest on Saturday in a special provincial funeral.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the national flag be flown at half-mast in Mpumalanga during the ceremony.
“The president declared a special official funeral for individuals who have made a significant contribution to the life of our country. Mr Nzima was part of a generation of people who showed the brutality of apartheid, using his lens as a tool of struggle,” presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko said.
