Strijdom Square, as it appeared at the time
On 15 November 1988, a man named Barend Strydom carried out a
shooting spree at Strijdom Square in central
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...
, South Africa, killing 8 people and injuring 16 others. Seven of the victims were black, while one was Indian. Strydom was later convicted and sentenced to death for the attack. It was one of many shootings during the
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
struggle. The square itself has since been renamed
Lillian Ngoyi
Lilian Masediba Matabane Ngoyi, "Mma Ngoyi", (25 September 1911 – 13 March 1980) was a South African anti-apartheid activist.
She was the first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress, and helped launch ...
Square.
The attack
The
Delmas Treason Trial
The Delmas Treason Trial (1985–1988) in South Africa was the prosecution of 22 anti-apartheid activists under security laws, with the intention of suppressing the United Democratic Front (UDF).Gerhard, Gail"Trial by Color" ''New York Times ...
was ongoing in Pretoria when Strydom, age 23, opened fire on 15 November 1988, killing eight and injuring 16.
Perpetrator
Barend Hendrik Strydom (born 15 July 1965) was born in Wenen,
Natal
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. He joined the
South African Police
The South African Police (SAP) was the national police force and law enforcement agency in South Africa from 1913 to 1994; it was the ''de facto'' police force in the territory of South West Africa (Namibia) from 1939 to 1981. After South Af ...
, but was dismissed after photographing himself with a decapitated motorist at the scene of an automobile accident.
A week prior, on 8 November 1988, he had killed a woman and injured another person. After the attack, Strydom claimed he was the leader of the White Wolves ( af, Wit Wolwe), but this was later dismissed as a fictitious organization invented by Strydom. He also said that he had meditated and prayed a number of days before the attack and said that God had not given him any sign to not to carry out the attack. He was sentenced to death; However, in 1990, the government declared a moratorium on
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
. In 1992, he was released from prison by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
F. W. de Klerk as one of 150 political prisoners. He was then granted amnesty in 1994 by the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...
on the grounds that his attack was politically motivated.
Memorial
On the 30th anniversary of the attack, on 15 November 2018, the names of the victims were read aloud in a ceremony. A commemorative plaque was dedicated in the square, created by Bradley Steyn, who had witnessed the massacre as a teenager. The ceremony was attended by
Carl Niehaus, a spokesperson for the
UMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association
The uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association (MKMVA) was an auxiliary political organisation affiliated to South Africa's African National Congress (ANC). It was founded in 1996 to represent the interests of individuals who had participa ...
, and two family members of the victims.
[
]
See also
*
Carel Johannes Delport
References
http://www.702.co.za/articles/327291/son-of-satat-carrim-killed-by-wit-wolf-recounts-the-day-his-father-was-shot
External links
Wit Wolf: Amnesty probe Statement On Misrepresentation Over Release Of Barend Strydom
Mass shootings in South Africa
History of Pretoria
Racially motivated violence against black people
Massacres in 1988
1988 murders in South Africa
1988 mass shootings in Africa
1980s massacres in South Africa
Events in Pretoria
{{Massacre-stub
