Prime Minister attends African Diaspora Summit in South Africa
Georgetown, GINA, May 24, 2012
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, his Personal Assistant Roopchand Bissesar and Antoinette Sithole, sister of Hector Pieterson, after whom a museum is named in Soweto, South Africa. At right is the famous photograph of Hector Pieterson being carried after he was shot and Antoinette running (left)
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds represented President Donald Ramotar at the African Diaspora Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, held over the past two days under the theme: βTowards the Realisation of a United and Integrated Africa and its Diasporaβ.
The event hosted by the African Union attracted African leaders and African diaspora including from the Caribbean, the Americas and elsewhere.
Early this year, the Unionβs leaders agreed to launch the Summit in South Africa and had asked the African Union and South Africa to team up to arrange the event.
It is the belief of the organisers that the event would help build a solid foundation for reviving the African family across the world.
While there, the Prime Minister visited the Hector Pieterson Museum in Soweto and met Antoinette Sithole, the sister of Pieterson.
In 1976, then 12-year-old Pieterson was shot by police during the Soweto Studentsβ Uprising. He was picked up by Mbuyisa Makhubo, who, together with Hector's sister, Antoinette Sithole, ran towards a press car, and was taken to a nearby clinic, where he was pronounced dead.
What has now become famous is the photograph taken of the child moments after being shot. He is shown being carried by someone and his sister Antoinette running alongside.