SAE3701
EXAM PACK
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SAE3701 ASSIGNMENT
– 02
The Soweto uprising happened on June 16th, 1976. It was a protest
against introducing Afrikaans as a medium in black schools all over
South-Africa. It was estimated that around 20,000 students took part in
this protest against the movement. Black South African high school
students in Soweto protested the Afrikaans Medium Decree of 1974,
which forced all black schools to use Afrikaans and English in equal
terms as languages of instruction. The association of Afrikaans
with apartheid prompted black South Africans to prefer English. Tsietsi
Mashinini led students from Morris Isaacson High School to join up with
others who walked from Naledi High School. The students began the
march, only to find out that police had barricaded the road along their
intended route. The leader of the action committee asked the crowd not
to provoke the police, and the march continued on another route and
eventually ended up near Orlando High School. The crowd of between
3,000 and 10,000 students made its way towards the area of the school.
Students sang and waved placards with slogans such as, "Down with
Afrikaans", "Viva Azania" and "If we must do Afrikaans, Vorster must
do Zulu".
During these times people of colour in South-Africa was treated very
unfairly and I think it was very important for something to be done. The
black youth of South-Africa during those times led a very good example
by doing what they did. These students were very brave and they fought
for their political rights against the South-African government. As a
young person living in South-Africa it had to take a lot of positive mindset
to achieve great things like they did. I think as people who live in post-
Apartheid times it is very important for us to also learn how to be brave
and to stand up for things that we don’t believe in. These young students
learned how to work together in a group and they taught other young
people how to form part of a group and that group work will always have
a bigger impact when you want something to change. The 1976 Soweto
Uprisings serve as a great example of the critical role young people have
historically played in challenging the harsh and unjust conditions facing
them and bringing about a democratic dispensation in South Africa. On 16
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June 1976, young people across South Africa resolved to confront white
domination, marking the end of submissiveness on the part of the black
population of South Africa and the beginning of a new militancy in the
struggle against apartheid. The current generation of young people in
South Africa is typically described as lost, apathetic and passive among
other things. It is crucial to develop an alternative narrative of young
people in South Africa – one where despite the challenges of poverty,
unemployment and crime youth grapple with daily, they remain actively
engaged citizens. Over 20 years since the dawn of democracy South
Africa still grapples with challenges systematic marginalisation and
deprivation of the masses of our people. Years of apartheid’s overt and
covert practices systematically and progressively produced a racially
polarized society that was founded on deplorable inequality and ensured
that the masses of our people were condemned to poverty. Poor housing,
inferior education, unfair and discriminatory labour practices, a biased
judicial system and restrictions of movement, economic and political
exclusion, racial and ethnic hostility, spiritual repression adversely affected
the Black majority in South Africa. Steve Biko, Tsietsi Mashinini, Solomon
Mahlangu and countless other young men and women all dedicated their
youth to the revolutionary struggle against this draconian system of
apartheid which sought to oppress and marginalise the masses of our
people.The dominant narrative about the current generation of the youth in
South Africa is that they are “the lost generation”, and that they are “the
future”. There is a need to challenge and interrogate this characterization. I
believe that it is grossly simplistic to characterize the current generation of
the (Thompson, 2016)South Africa’s youth as lost, apathetic and passive.
In the same breath, it is problematic to describe the youth as the “future”.
An important lesson that can be drawn from the 1976 Uprisings is that the
youth in this respect played a leading role in waging battle against the
exploitation and oppression of the masses of the people. The youth
determined for themselves what issue needed to be addressed and how
this issue should be addressed. What the 1976 Uprisings should teach us
as the current generation of youth is that we must assume leadership in
addressing challenges facing us. Solutions to some of the most pressing
challenges currently facing young people in South Africa essentially lie with
the youth of this country. Youth must rise!!
The Soweto Uprising was revolved around years of built up anger and
bitterness that everyone had built up toward the apartheid government
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that just exploded all at once. It also signalled the beginning of the end
of apartheid and racism in South Africa. Apartheid still exists in South
Africa in a different way. Now it is more controlled, and not as upfront
and brutal. Even though over 360 blacks were killed during the Soweto
Uprising, in the end everything ended up in its place. It happened for the
good of the people. The apartheid government got what they deserved,
and everything worked out for the students not only in Soweto, but it
made a huge impact on the rest of South Africa as well. All the schools
and classroom environments started changing through the other
townships in South Africa. The Soweto Uprising was a big turning point
in the anti-apartheid struggle. After everything was all over and time
passed, June 16th is now an official holiday in South Africa. It is called,
Youth Day, and it was created to be a day they would remember all of
the teachers and children that lost their lives or lost everything that they
had trying to fight for their right to a better education.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Brits, J. P. (1995). The Concise Dictionary of Historical and
Political Terms, London: Penguin.
• Brits, J. P. (1995). The Concise Dictionary of Historical and
Political Terms, London: Penguin.
• Christie, P. (1991). The Right to Learn: The Struggle for Education
in South Africa, Johannesburg: Sachet Trust/Ravan Press.
• Christie, P. (1991). The Right to Learn: The Struggle for Education
in South Africa, Johannesburg: Sachet Trust/Ravan Press.
• Cross, M. (1992). Resistance and Transformation: Education
Culture and Reconstruction in South Africa, Johannesburg:
Skotaville.
• Cross, M. (1992). Resistance and Transformation: Education
Culture and Reconstruction in South Africa, Johannesburg:
Skotaville.
• Howcroft, P. unpublished South African Encyclopaedia papers.
• Howcroft, P. unpublished South African Encyclopaedia papers.
• Kallaway, P. (ed) (1984). Apartheid and Education: The Education
of Black South Africans, Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
• Kallaway, P. (ed) (1984). Apartheid and Education: The Education
of Black South Africans, Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
• Saunders, C. & Southey, N. (1998). A Dictionary of South African
History, Cape Town: David Philip.
• Saunders, C. & Southey, N. (1998). A Dictionary of South African
History, Cape Town: David Philip.
