{{short description|South African citizen (1978–2011)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Use South African English|date=May 2012}} {{Infobox person | name = Andries Tatane | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1978|02|22}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2011|04|13|1978|02|22}} | death_place = Ficksburg, Free State, South Africa | occupation = | spouse = Rose Tatane }}
'''Andries Tatane''' (22 February 1978 – 13 April 2011) was a South African citizen who was shot and killed by police officers during a service delivery protest in Ficksburg. His murder was captured on TV by a media crew that was covering the protest on that day and shocked the whole country. Seven police officers accused of his murder and assault were acquitted in the Ficksburg Regional Court in March 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=Court acquits police officers in Andries Tatane case|url=http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2013/03/28/court-acquits-police-officers-in-andries-tatane-case|accessdate=11 April 2013|newspaper=Business Day|date=28 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Tatane: So many questions remain |url=http://www.citypress.co.za/news/tatane-so-many-questions-remain/ |accessdate=11 April 2013 |work=City Press South Africa|location=South Africa |date=31 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130410192628/http://www.citypress.co.za/news/tatane-so-many-questions-remain/ |archivedate=10 April 2013 }}</ref>
==Biography==
Andries was a member of the ANC until 2008 when he left the ANC to join the breakaway party COPE. In the months before he died he left COPE to join the Meqheleng Concerned Citizens (MCC), an autonomous local community organisation.<ref name=MGWhoWasAT>{{cite news|last=Sosibo|first=Kwanele|title=Who was Andries Tatane?|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-21-who-was-andries-tatane|accessdate=16 August 2011|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|date=21 April 2011|quote="He was a very brilliant student, a pioneer by nature. He was very skilled in initiating things that would benefit others. He wanted to see all the people freed from unemployment and illiteracy."}}</ref> He was a mathematics teacher, a community activist, journalist, community newspaper publisher and possible independent candidate for the municipal elections due to take place in May 2011. He was married to Rose Tatane.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/andries-tatane |title=Andries Tatane entry at ''Who's Who of Southern Africa'' |access-date=24 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425065917/http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/andries-tatane |archive-date=25 April 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Events surrounding his death==
On 13 April 2011, Andries Tatane, together with 4,000 other protesters, took to the streets and marched to Setsoto Municipal Offices in Ficksburg, Free State, South Africa to protest against poor service delivery in the area. The protesters were met by police members who attempted to disperse the crowd with water cannons. While some arrested protesters were being bundled into police vans, Tatane tried to argue with the police and to block a water cannon vehicle, at which point he was grabbed around one arm by a police officer. Tatane was seen to pull his arm away from the officer who then started to beat him with a baton. Tatane appeared to move aggressively towards this officer. Four or five other police officers then pulled him away and began to kick and beat him with batons. During this time he was twice shot in the chest with rubber bullets.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Knoetze |first=Daneel |date=2021-04-13 |title=Ten years after Andries Tatane was killed, police misuse of rubber bullets is still unchecked |url=https://groundup.org.za/article/ten-years-after-andries-tatane-was-killed-police-misuse-rubber-bullets-still-unchecked/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=GroundUp News |language=en}}</ref> Tatane collapsed shortly after and died on the scene 20 minutes later.
While Tatane's death as a result of police action during a protest is by no means a unique event in South Africa, it had notably garnered greater nationwide attention than any previous such occurrence. One of the main reasons for this was that the entire incident was filmed on T.V. cameras and later broadcast during the prime time evening news of the national broadcaster, the SABC.
==Aftermath==
Following Tatane's death, there has been public outrage about the manner in which he died.<ref>Several opinion pieces in South African newsmedia: *{{cite news|last=Mahabane|first=Itumeleng|title=Death in Ficksburg shows how we value life|url=http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=140341|newspaper=Business Day|date=15 April 2011}} *{{cite news|last=Pitthouse|first=Richard|title=On the Murder of Andries Tatane|url=http://www.sacsis.org.za/site/article/655.1|newspaper=SACSIS|date=16 April 2011|access-date=2 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514034737/http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/655.1|archive-date=14 May 2012|url-status=dead}} *{{cite news|last=Bruce|first=David|title=Only police chiefs can end it|url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/columnists/article1035758.ece/Only-police-chiefs-can-end-it|newspaper=The Sunday Times|date=24 April 2011}} *{{cite news|last=Friedman|first=Steven|title=Police violence in Ficksburg is not anything new|url=http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=140782|newspaper=Business Day|date=20 April 2011}} *{{cite news|last=Hattingh|first=Shawn|title=Murdered by the Ruling Classes|url=http://www.anarkismo.net/article/19359|newspaper=Anarkismo|date=21 April 2011}} *{{cite news|last=wa Bofelo|first=Mphutlane|title=Police brutality and service delivery protests|url=http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72780|newspaper=Pambazuka News|date=21 April 2011}}</ref>
Tatane's death has been described as "a watershed moment in public perceptions of state violence after apartheid".<ref>[http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2011-05-05-it-is-time-to-be-offended It is time to be offended] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110508060128/http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2011-05-05-it-is-time-to-be-offended |date=8 May 2011 }}, Herman Wasserman & Sean Jacobs, ''The Daily Maverick'', 8 May 2011</ref>
An investigation into his death was launched by the Independent Complaints Directorate's commission. The South African Police Service has also launched their own internal investigation into the matter. The death of Tatane has placed both the issue of rising anger over a lack of service delivery as well as police brutality in the media spotlight, with comparisons being drawn<ref name=Sowetan>{{cite news|last=Mngxitama|first=Andile|title=Tatane's death underlines need for government to deliver|url=http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/columnists/2011/04/19/tatane-s-death-underlines-need-for-government-to-deliver|accessdate=23 April 2011|newspaper=The Sowetan|date=19 April 2011|quote=Hector Pieterson was the symbol of the 1976 uprising in the same way that Tatane is the symbol of service delivery struggles today.}}</ref> to the deaths of Hector Pieterson and Steve Biko at the hands of police during the height of apartheid.
It has also emerged that this was not an isolated incident<ref>[http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/amnesty-red-flag-police-brutality-1.1068706 Amnesty red flag police brutality], Craig Dodds, 13 May 2011</ref><ref>[https://www.amnesty.org/en/region/south-africa/report-2011 Amnesty International South Africa Report 2011]</ref> and that the ICD has investigated 1,769 separate incidents of people dying in police custody or as a result of police action in 2010.<ref name=M&GIsolatedIncident>{{cite news|last=Ilham|first=Rawoot|title=Protester's death not an isolated case|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-15-protesters-death-not-an-isolated-case/|date=15 April 2011|accessdate=23 April 2011|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|author2=Underhill, Glynnis|quote=Video footage of the protester, identified as 33-year-old Andries Tatane, caused shockwaves when it was broadcast on SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) prime time news on Wednesday evening.}}</ref> National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele's statement in late August 2009 that police officers should be able to "shoot to kill"<ref name=IOLShootToKill>{{cite news|last=Carvin|first=Goldstone|title=Police must shoot to kill, worry later - Cele|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/police-must-shoot-to-kill-worry-later-cele-1.453587|accessdate=23 April 2011|newspaper=IOL News|date=1 August 2009|quote=Cele's philosophy on shooting before being shot, which he has preached in KwaZulu-Natal during his time as MEC for community safety, has led to the province having more deaths in police custody under review than any other province during the past year. There were 258 deaths in custody in KZN during 2008/2009 - 83 more than the previous year.}}</ref> without worrying about the consequences will undoubtedly be brought to the forefront again.
The ANC's National Spokesperson, Jackson Mthembu, condemned the brutality, but also chastised the SABC for broadcasting the footage during the prime time news, citing the fact that it might have upset sensitive viewers,<ref name=M&GIsolatedIncident/> calling on the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to investigate the SABC's editorial decision. Mthembu has been one of the most vocal supporters of planned legislation to introduce a Media Appeals Tribunal to govern the South African media;<ref name=M&GMediaTribunal>{{cite news|last=Mandy|first=Rossouw|title=ANC backtracks on media tribunal|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2011-01-14-anc-backtracks-on-media-tribunal/|accessdate=23 April 2011|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|date=14 January 2011|quote=In July last year Mthembu was adamant there should be even harsher punishment for errant journalists. "If you have to go to prison, let it be. If you have to pay millions for defamation, let it be. If journalists have to be fired because they don't contribute to the South Africa we want, let it be," he told the Mail & Guardian.}}</ref> legislation which is currently held in abeyance.
After visiting the Tatane family in Meqheleng, Ficksburg, on 19 April 2011, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Thabo Makgoba, directed attention to the lack of justice and delivery on promises which had preceded the incident and points out the irony of the protesters having been met with water cannons, "attacked with the very thing they don’t have the pleasure of in their daily lives." He called on the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka, to "visit and see the appalling conditions under which God’s people live" and the Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, to "provide houses". He added that "Minister Nathi Mthethwa and President Zuma should publicly apologise for this embarrassing act of aggression by police."<ref>[http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/04/visit-to-ficksburg-and-tatane-family.html Visit to Ficksburg and Tatane Family, by the Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town, blog dated 21 April 2011]</ref>
The Archbishop has subsequently said: "Let us affirm and call for a renaming of our police services back to 'safety and security' and not a police 'force', for this force seems to maim and kill rather than offer safety and security."<ref>[http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2011/04/sermon-at-service-for-renewal-of-vows.html Archbishop Thabo Makgoba’s Sermon at the Service for the Renewal of Vows, Maundy Thursday, 21 April 2011, published 22 April]</ref>
There was an election boycott in the area following Tatane's death.<ref name="mg.co.za">[http://mg.co.za/article/2011-05-20-disillusioned-voters-snub-ficksburg-poll Disillusioned voters snub Ficksburg poll], KWANELE SOSIBO, ''Mail & Guardian'', 20 May 2011]</ref> In May 2011 it was reported that the Meqheleng Concerned Citizens group was a credible structure with growing influence.<ref name="mg.co.za"/> However, by December 2011 it had degenerated to the point of being described as "a toothless organisation led by calculating tenderpreneurs".<ref>[http://mg.co.za/article/2011-12-23-ficksburg-the-dorpie-where-revolution-was-a-false-alarm Ficksburg: The dorpie where revolution was a false alarm], by Kwanele Sosibo, ''Mail & Guardian'', 23 December 2011</ref>
A number of police officers were charged with Tatane's murder but they were found not guilty on the grounds that Tatane's murderers could not be identified as they were wearing helmets. However, a British journalist was easily able to identify his killers from video footage.<ref>[http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-07-22-police-brutality-and-the-mass-amnesia-that-threatens-to-obscure-it/#.UeylJY3I2VI Police brutality, and the mass amnesia that threatens to obscure it], Inigo Gilmore, ''Daily Maverick'', 22 July 2013</ref>
==Cultural references to Tatane==
In poetry, Andries Tatane's death is referenced in a work by Adam Haupt, entitled "For Andries Tatane".<ref>Thought Leader,[http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/adamhaupt/2011/04/15/for-andries-tatane/] accessed online: 21 April 2011</ref> This poem has since been republished as the epilogue to a scholarly book titled ''Static: Race & Representation in Post-Apartheid Music, Media & Film''<ref>Haupt, A. ''Static: Race & Representation in Post-Apartheid Music, Media & Film''. HSRC Press: Cape Town, 2012.</ref>
In Music, Andries Tatane is named in a struggle song of the Economic Freedom Fighters in memoriam of his death and solidarity for justice for his death.
==Notes== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{Political history of South Africa}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatane, Andries}} Category:1978 births Category:2011 deaths Category:South African civil rights activists Category:Victims of police brutality in South Africa Category:Protest-related deaths in South Africa Category:Filmed killings by law enforcement