Peter Magubane, the legendary photographer who with his camera showed the world the cruelties of apartheid, has died aged 91.
Family members confirmed his death to the media on Monday, unleashing waves of tributes for the struggle icon.
Among the first to pay tribute was President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“For most of his life, Peter Magubane created iconic visual records of our struggle for freedom and of the full range of life in our country,” the president wrote on X, sending his condolences to Magubane’s family.
“He documented our nation and the early years of freedom of Nelson Mandela with a prosaic passion that was powered as much by what he felt from the heart as what he saw through his lens.
“He has sadly left us at the start of the year in which we are marking 30 years of freedom. As we revisit our journey to freedom and the progression of our democratic dispensation, Peter Magubane’s imagery will be an important part of our reflections.”
Magubane famously said that in the fight against white-minority rule, his camera was his gun. “I did not want to kill anyone… I wanted to kill apartheid,” he told The Guardian in 2015.
He rose to global prominence documenting the struggle for freedom, and for this crime he endured several beatings and spells of imprisonment.
In a statement, the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) described Magubane as “a giant in the field of photojournalism”.
“[He] will forever be remembered as one of the courageous journalists who defiantly opposed the apartheid regime in South Africa. Throughout the oppressive years of apartheid, he faced harassment, beatings, buckshot wounds, and prolonged periods of interrogation and detention,” Sanef said.
In 1990, upon Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, Magubane took on the historic role as his personal photographer. He remained in the role for four years, until Mandela’s election as president in 1994.
Magubane once spoke of his favourite photo of Mandela: ‘It is definitely the one of Mandela dancing at his 72nd birthday celebration… You can see the joy of freedom shining in his eyes.”
Pictured above: Peter Magubane has died aged 91.
Image source: X
