Apartheid

Background to the Uprising:

On June 16th 1976 a group of black high school students started a protest over the imposition of Afrikaans as the primary language instruction in township schools. By the end of that day 566 children were dead. Blacks did not receive equal education and rarely had any access to educational institutions. The few schools that did exist in Sowetu were poorly equipped, under staffed and blacks had no desire to obtain an education, due to the lack of opportunities that they would receive afterwards. There are many factors that lead up to the tragic events of June 16th 1976. One of these factors was The Bantu Education Act of 1953 which established a Black Education Department.

The Bantu (slang for black) Education Act was enacted in 1953 which established a black education department in the Department of Native Affairs. The role of this department's main objective was to construct a curriculum that suited the 'nature and requirements of black people.' The author of this legislation, Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd who was the Minister of Native affairs at the time, stated:'Natives(balcks) must be taught from an early age that equality with Europeans (whites) is not for them.' Black people were not to receive an education that would lead them to aspire to positions they would not be allowed to hold in society. Instead they were to receive education designed to provide them with skills that to serve their own people in the homelands or to work in labouring jobs under whites.

It is fair to assume that at this point black students all over the country were struggling to come to terms with their given education system. The situation was already volatile when the Afrikaans Medium Decree was instituted. The South African Minister of Bantu Education and Development, MC Botha, issued a decree in 1974 that made Afrikaans the sole instruction language in black schools. This decree was to be implemented from the last year of primary school (last year of middle school) up until the last year of high school. The majority of African teachers also known as the African Teachers Association (ATSA)launched a countrywide campaign against the policy, but it was implemented anyway by the authorities. The Deputy Minsiter of Bantu Education, Punt Botha was quoted as saying " No, I have not consulted the African people on the language issue and I will not." Another official was quoted in saying "if students are not happy, they should stay away from school since atendance is not compulsory for Africans."Additionally, the Department of Bantu Education said that if the governmnet was paying for blacks' education, they had the right to decide the language of instruction.

Student organize a Protest:

Black students protested the fact that they would be taught in the opressors language. Also, the apartheid governmnet spent R644 on a white child's education and only and only R42 on a black child's education. The resentment that was shared across the Sowetu, eventually spread to all the schools in Sowetu and the students organized a massive strike for June 16th, 1976. The students also decided not to get their parents involved as the would probably try to stop it. Students from all over Sowetu met at differnet points and according to witnesses between 15 000 and 20 000 students in uniform marched on that fateful day. The main objective of the march was for the stsudents to pledge their solidarity and, sing 'Nkosi Sikeleli' (now South Africa's National Anthem) and upon making their point, to return home. However, the Bureau of State Security was caught off guard and responded by sending police line which formed in front of the marchers. The police , which majoritarily consisted of whites and a few blacks, order the crowd to disperse and upon teh crowd's refusal, the released police dogs and later fired teargas at the students. Initially the students responded by throwing stones and glass bottles at the police. The police responded by firing gunshots into the crowd without any warning. Students began setting ire to any apartheid symbols, such as "Whites Only" signs as well as any white onwed businesses and vehicles. Army helicopters dropped teargas on the crowds from the sky and roadblacks were set up at all entrances of Sowetu. The war between the students an the police continued all day and into the night. 

One of the most famous piece of visual evidence of that fateful day is the picture of Hector Pieterson's dead body being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubu taken by Samuel Nzima. 13 Year old Hector Pieterson was the first child to be killed that day, and the picture is his dead body being carried alonsgide with his screaming sister. (PICTURE) Samuel Nzima has decribed what he has seen: "The first shot was fired before children started throwing stones. Then absolute chaos broke out. The children ran all over the place and stoned the police. A postmortem test that was done on the body of Hector Pitersen revealed that the boy was on fact killed by a bullet directly fired into him on not by a bullet that ricocheted of teh ground, which is what the police said happened.