South African history is known to cover Nelson Mandela with great respect as an active Nationalist and freedom fighter. But we must not forget many other freedom fighters who have also contributed to making their nation stand out just like other developed countries.
Renowned Freedom Fighters of South Africa Are:
1. Hector Pieterson
This 12-year-old child was widely known for having his image in the newspapers and articles. Unfortunately, this image was captured while he was on his last breath. He was in the arms of a young person, Soweto. This had made a lot of people utterly shattered.
Hector had no kind of political background and he did not even create any non-violence activities. He was a silent protester in the opposition of the Bantu Education Act. He was brutely harassed by the policeman for protesting and was shot by one of the security.
2. Stephen Bantu Biko
Biko was born on 18th December 1946. He was claimed to be a South African black activist who also came out to be a renowned heroic figure during the entire set-up of the anti-apartheid struggle. In his family, he had a brother who was also an activist fighting for freedom.
His brother was being prisoned by the policeman for being an anti-apartheid activist. In this way, Biko and his family have been working for the common people’s rights. In 1967, he was also appointed to become a chief member of the black student group. He was a reputed representative of that group.
As days passed, his support and activities increased widely throughout South Africa. In August 1977, Biko was arrested by the Police and was prisoned at Port Elizabeth. Here, he was brutely tortured and then was shifted Pretoria in September. He was dead by the mid of September. The reason behind his death was a hunger strike.
3. Solomon Mahlangu
He was a brave South African soldier, who was awfully charged for criminal and terrorist activities happening in South Africa. The charges that have been taken upon him had no serious evidence. He was brutally beaten up by the policeman and security.
He became unfit and wounded because of such brutal actions taken by the law authorities. His belief was:
The blood which is shredded will not be wasted and it will help the freedom to flower and bear fruits for South Africa
This slogan was given by Mahlangu. He was hanged till death in 1979.
4. Ahmed Timol
He was a teacher and an independent activist who always agreed to work on the freedom of his Nation. He was also a reputed sportsperson who always believed to live life with sports. He was being witnessed to fall into the profession of a study that was banned. He was brutally treated by the policeman for committing this unheard crime.
Lastly, his family was handed with a dead body of his son to complete the death rituals. His body had remaining of a broken neck, bruised all over the back and stomach and all the fingernails were torn apart.
