Upington 14

A set of drawings of the ‘Upington 14’ who were sentenced to death for a murder that they could not all have committed. In 1985, a black policeman, Lucas Sethwala, was beaten to death and his body burned during a riot. Twenty-five black citizens were all accused for this murder. After a two-year trial, the `Upington 25' are convicted of his murder; and a year later, fourteen of them - the 'Upington 14' are sentenced to death, under the apartheid-era legal principle of “common purpose.” The sentences were overturned by the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein in 1991 and, in all but four cases, the murder convictions were also overturned.

The artist was a member of their legal team.

Notably, the constitutionality of the death penalty was the first case heard by the Constitutional Court.

Further reading
https://www.timeslive.co.za/su...
https://www.aamarchives.org/ar...