User:Crtew/Abdul Shariff

Abdul Shariff (ca. 1963 – January 9, 1994), a South African journalist for the Associated Press who was killed while covering the African National Congress peace delegation in Katlehong Township, Gauteng Province, South Africa, in violence before the 1994 election. Shariff was known for documenting the violence of apartheid, focusing on the perspective of black workers.

Personal
Abdul Shariff was born and raised in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal. He was raised in a small Indian family and had a brother named Cassim. In high school, he became involved in the student political movement and eventually became the coordinator of boycotts against apartheid. In high school, he had already started to document political violence and publish them through the Natal Indian Congress and the United Democratic Front. At the time of his death, he was dating a woman named Madi Pearce. She said at his funeral, "He had a real love for his work, and always said there was a story to be told. We both knew the danger but it never seemed as real as it does now."

Career
After high school, Shariff worked for Impact Visuals for three years as part of the Afrapix documentary. He began to cover violence and oppression of apartheid in South Africa. He would focus and document on the perspective of township residents and black workers. He worked for Natal Indian Congress and some of his work that he documented would be from South Africa, Europe, Canada, and United States. His work appeared in major news publications, such as The Weekly Mail, Der Spiegel, Newsweek, and the New York Times.

Death
On January 9, 1994, the leaders of the African National Congress were to meet in Katlehong Township as part of a peace delegation. They were to address the 3,000 people killed and the 1,200 of those who were from Katlehong, that had been killed in political violence and unrest. Abdul Shariff, who working freelance for the Associated Press was documenting the meeting. He went along with the leaders of the delegation on a tour of the Dikole section and was walking along a dirt road with them when shooting began. The shots came from the Zulu-controlled KwaMazibuko hostel from members of the Inkatha Freedom Party and were directed at leaders Cyril Ramaphosa, who was the ANC secretary general, and Joe Slovo, who was the South African Communist Party chief. The leaders were spared as they were protected by their bodyguards. The shooting went on for at least 40 minutes before all was ended. During the shootout, Shariff attempted to scramble for cover, when he was caught in the crossfire. He was shot in back through his shoulder blades with an AK-47 and was killed on impact, while his Nikon F4 camera was damaged. Shariff was taken to Natalspruit Hospital, in Katlehong, but he was dead on arrival. In total, there were deaths that day including Shariff, while two other broadcast journalists with the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Charles Moikanyang and Antha Warner, were injured. The police showed up after the shooting and the citizens at the shooting said that police were nowhere to be found at the time Inkatha showed up. On the other side, the [[National Party (South Africa)
 * National Party]], the Inkatha Freedom Party, the Democratic Party and the South African Police all blamed the ANC for going to Katlehong and increasing the tensions there.

Context
At the time of the shooting and even before, Shariff knew of the dangers of being in Katlehong. It is a place characterized by highly dense living conditions and almost half of blacks killed in violence were from the township. A few journalist were said to have had bullet proof vests.

Then ANC President Nelson Mandela spoke out against the attack and blamed the government of F.W. de Klerk and police for the incident. Mandela said, "There is no excuse for the police not doing their duty. . . . The police should not allow any people to fire at innocent residents."

South African Communist Party Chief Joe Slovo said, "Today, we had a small taste, a very small taste, of what is happening to the people in this area. That was frightening. Even more frightening when you realise people here live under these conditions every day."

Impact
Today Abdul Shariff is primarily remembered for his work for the Associated Press and Impact Visuals.

Shariff was the one journalist killed while reporting from Katlehong. Two more were injured. In total, 40 journalists covered the event.

Shortly before his death he said, "I see my pictures contributing to the documentation of our history". All the photographs and documentations he was a part of, went to help people who worked for the Impact Visuals Photograph Collection to further their study.

In popular culture
Abdul Shariff was portrayed in the 2010 film The Bang Bang Club. In 2011 film reviewer Philippa Garson wrote about the film's portrayal of Shariff as inexperienced in comparison to the photojournalists who were members of the club. She wrote, "In reality Shariff was an experienced and respected photographer who would never have asked to join the Bang Bang Club! It was irresponsible to portray him in this way." Tom Cohen for CNN agreed and called the portrayal "demeaning": "In the film, his character is portrayed as an inexperienced Bang Bang Club wannabe who begs Marinovich's character to let him join, repeatedly calling him 'sir' and gesturing submissively in appreciation when told to come out with them the next day." Shariff's character is shot in the next scene in Soweto.

People were heartbroken after the devastating disaster that happened in Katlehong. There was nothing said about Shariff after his death besides his girlfriends statement and Slovo's statement saying, "'Today,' said Mr Slovo an hour after the incident, 'we had a small taste, a very small taste, of what is happening to the people in this area.' 'That was frightening,' said Mr Ramaphosa. 'Even more frightening when you realize people here live under these conditions every day.'"