The day is commemorated in South Africa as the day in which high school pupils in Soweto were massacred by the apartheid police in 1976. This was during a peaceful march, in protest against the enforced use of Afrikaans as a medium language of instruction from Grade seven in black schools.
After 1994 June 16 was set aside as a public holiday in SA. A 13-year-old Hector Petersen is the most well recognised youngster who later became a symbol synonymous with this movement. The day was dedicated to honor the bravery and sacrifice of the courageous youth who were at the forefront of the struggle against Bantu education.
It was the Soweto Uprising which laid the grounds for the release of Nelson Mandela and the end of the Apartheid regime in the country. This year we celebrate 16 June against the backdrop of yet another uprising involving young people.
The #BlackLivesMatter movement, which was triggered by the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd at the hands of a white policeman in Minneapolis, US. Since his death, there has been a significant number of protests and marches all over the world calling for an end to racism.
Despite that the protests and marches includes all other forms of systemic oppression particularly directed towards the black body. Although today’s youth are not fighting for the same things that were fought by the youth of 1976.
Thus as young people we need to redirect our focus to personal and socioeconomic development of the country, in line with the vision towards a free SA. As youth we mustassume an active role as agents of change, reconstruction and development.
We should learn from the revolutionary roles played by the country’s gallant cadres in addressing the problems weface today. It is therefore crucial that they organised themselves towards advancing the struggle to redress past imbalances.
The 1976 struggle should challenge today’s’ youth to take ownership of the problems that affect us directly such as access to quality education and unemployment. Education is the most important asset youth should acquire.
