As South Africa commemorates Youth Day this Wednesday, Flow Communications takes a moment to revisit the events that led to the Soweto Uprising.
It was a cold and gloomy day as pupils gathered at Vilakazi Street, Soweto, on June 16, 1976.
They had planned a peaceful march against the government’s imposition of Afrikaans as the medium of learning in black secondary schools but the march turned into what was to become a strong symbol of the struggle for liberation in South Africa.
About 20 000 students in their school uniforms made their way to Orlando Stadium.
Once there, the plan was to agree on a list of grievances and then march to the offices of the Transvaal Department of Education in Booysens.
The police were informed of this gathering and arrived to break the protest up.
During the confrontation, police began to fire on the students. Many were killed – including 14-year-old Hector Pietersen.
According to South African History Online (SAHO), apart from the language issue, students were also protesting for better education, equivalent to that of their white counterparts.
Moreover, SAHO says, “Youth Day marks not just the sacrifices made by the youth on that day, but also the sacrifices of those children who defied ‘Bantu Education’ and, instead of pens, took up arms in the struggle for freedom.”
Youth Day, 16 June, previously known as Soweto Day, marks the annual commemoration of these events in 1976.
Soweto is now a bustling metropolis which is home to more than half-a-million South Africans.
Vilakazi Street is now a popular tourist destination and tourists can visit the Hector Pieterson Museum and stand on the same spot that the young hero was shot.
This day was a turning point in South African history.
It is a day we can salute the young people that paved the way for us and appreciate and honour the sacrifices they made.
Flow Communications salutes the heroes and heroines that put their lives on the line in order to give equal education to all.
Without your brave sacrifices many children in South Africa would not enjoy the fruits and freedoms available to them today.