Frederick John Harris (4 July 1937 – 1 April 1965) (known as John Harris) was a South African schoolteacher and anti-

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 ...

campaigner who turned to

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

and was executed after a bomb attack on a railway station. He was Chairman of SANROC (the South African Non Racial Olympic Committee), which in 1964 petitioned the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

to have South Africa excluded from the Olympics for fielding a white-only team. After being arrested for his political activities, he became a member of the

African Resistance Movement The African Resistance Movement (ARM) was a militant anti-apartheid resistance movement, which operated in South Africa during the early and mid-1960s. It was founded in 1960, as the National Committee of Liberation (NCL), by members of South Af ...

(ARM).

Crime

On 24 July 1964, Harris telephoned the Johannesburg Railway Police to inform them that a bomb had been planted on a whites-only platform of

Johannesburg Park Station Johannesburg Park Station is the central railway station in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, and the largest railway station in Africa. It is located between the Central Business District and Braamfontein, in the block bordered by Rissik, ...

. The bomb exploded shortly afterwards, killing a 77-year-old woman and injuring 23 others.

Trial and execution

Harris was represented at trial by David Soggot, who later became one of South Africa's most prominent civil rights lawyers. Harris was convicted of murder, and hanged on 1 April 1965. He went to the gallows singing

We Shall Overcome "We Shall Overcome" is a gospel song which became a protest song and a key anthem of the American civil rights movement. The song is most commonly attributed as being lyrically descended from "I'll Overcome Some Day", a hymn by Charles Albert Ti ...

, a

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

protest song.

Burial and legacy

At his cremation, 15-year-old

Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...

(whose family had been friendly with Harris) stood and recited ''A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up''. A memorial to remember Harris's life was held around the 40th anniversary of his death at

Freedom Park In the Philippines, a freedom park is a centrally located public space where political gatherings, rallies and demonstrations may be held without the need of prior permission from government authorities. Similar to free speech zones in the United S ...

in Pretoria. Harris was the only white person hanged for crimes committed in resistance to apartheid (although numerous more were assassinated, such as

Ruth First Heloise Ruth First (4 May 1925 – 17 August 1982) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar. She was assassinated in Mozambique, where she was working in exile, by a parcel bomb built by South African police. Family and edu ...

). All those executed for such crimes were honoured by South Africa's president,

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

, on the occasion of the launch of the Gallows Museum at the

C Max Pretoria Central Prison, renamed Kgosi Mampuru II Management Area by former President Jacob Zuma on 13 April 2013 and sometimes referred to as Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Services is a large prison in central Pretoria, within the City of Tshwane ...

Pretoria Central Correctional Centre on 15 December 2011: "The 134 men were terrorists or trouble makers to the authorities then. But to their people and families, they were freedom fighters who wanted to see a free, democratic and non-sexist South Africa."

Notes and references

* * *

External links

Tribute: On the occasion of a memorial for John Harris (1937 - 1965)
at

South African History Online The South African History Project (2001-2004) was established and initiated by Professor Kader Asmal, former Minister of Education in South Africa. This initiative followed after the publication of the Manifesto on Values, Education and Democracy ...

Frederick John Harris
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Frederick John People executed by South Africa by hanging 1937 births 1965 deaths White South African anti-apartheid activists Executed South African people 20th-century executions by South Africa Liberal Party of South Africa politicians Executed activists People executed for murder South African people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by South Africa

Crime

Trial and execution

Burial and legacy

Notes and references

Further reading

External links