Surname
Since June 1976, Hector's surname has been spelled Peterson and Pietersen by the press but the family insists that the correct spelling is Pieterson. The Pieterson family was originally the Pitso family but decided to adopt the Pieterson name to try to pass as Coloured, a different ethnic group under the Apartheid system of racial classification, because Coloured people enjoyed somewhat better privileges under apartheid than blacks did.
Read more about this topic: Hector Pieterson