He was admitted to a Mbombela hospital the past three days.
The Bushbuckridge photographer who took the iconic photo of 12-year-old Hector Pieterson being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo has died.
Sam Nzima died at 83 at a Mbombela hospital on Saturday evening, his family confirmed.
They say the photojournalist collapsed on Thursday and had to be rushed to hospital where he died three days later.
Sam Nzima the photographer that is famous for the photograph of Mbuyisa Makhubu carrying Hector Pieterson's body away from the rioting crowd at the student protest on June 16 1976 has passed on.
May his soul in peace.#RIPSamNzima pic.twitter.com/W0RC0ucGoX
— Katleho (@KatlehoMK) May 12, 2018
Nzima was working for The World newspaper – beginning from the late 1960s – when he took the famous photo.
The photo shows the emotional scene of Makhubu carrying a dying 12-year-old Hector and sister Antoinette Peterson (17) running near them.
They were pupils in Soweto during the 1976 student uprising on 16 June where more than 20 000 pupils participated, fighting against the use of Afrikaans as a language of teaching.
He was born on 8 August 1934 in the Bushbuckridge village of Lillydale.
(edited by MLM)
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