By Amir Shakur
On Sunday, November 1, 2026, journalist and author Peter Auf Der Heyde joined Amir A.H. Shakur on the Freedom and Justice Journal for “Executed and Forgotten: Justice After Apartheid” — a conversation centered on his book Death in Pretoria and the men and women executed in Pretoria between 1960 and 1989 whose stories history nearly left behind.
The book at the center
Death in Pretoria tells the untold stories of political activists executed during apartheid. Auf Der Heyde’s work recovers the lives of the more than 130 people put to death in Pretoria over three decades — foot soldiers of the struggle whose names, trials, and fates were buried beneath the larger narrative of the era.
Trials, accountability, and the families still waiting
The conversation tackles the harrowing realities of apartheid trials, the ongoing pursuit of accountability, and the vital stories that risk being left behind in the shadows of history. It presses on the difficult truths that still resonate today: trials that failed the accused, families still living with what was done, and what repair looks like now that the political spotlight has faded and the history books are closed.
From sports journalism to death row
Auf Der Heyde came to this story from an unlikely starting point. A journalist and teacher of sports journalism who covered stories across Africa’s football fields, he turned to the men and women executed in Pretoria for crimes with a political motive. He is a lecturer in sports journalism at Solent University and a senior research associate at the University of Johannesburg.
Peter Auf Der Heyde — EXECUTED AND FORGOTTEN | Freedom and Justice Journal
