Defying the comrades

While photographing the funeral of Chief Ampie Mayisa in Leandra township, east of Johannesburg, in 1986, Magubane witnessed the vigilante killing of a man suspected of involvement in the chief’s death. Stepping out from behind his camera, Magubane intervened with angry comrades to ensure that the dead man’s mother and daughter would be spared. It was an act that earned him the prestigious Robert Capa award for courageous journalism. Photographer Paul Weinberg captured the incident in the picture on the right, which shows Magubane, right, in the background behind the dead man’s body.