Apartheid
The Sowetu Uprisings of June 16th, 1976
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 the 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.
Students organize a protest
The famous picture of Hector Pietersen
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 the ground, which is what the police said happened. On the morning of June 17th 1976 the streets of Sowetu was filled with dead bodies of young students, addition to burnt cars, building and any white owned institutions.
Furthermore, the riots spread to other parts of South Africa, including Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban and Witwatersrand ad this resulted in the largest outbreak of violence in South african history to date. 92 People died in Cape Town as a result of the riots and 33 people died in Port Elizabeth. Most of the violence stopped by the end of 1976 but by the end of it 600 people all over South Africa were killed.Those who particiated in the riots carved a new generaion of young South African freedom fighters proudly opposing aprtheid. Many of those youngsters left South Africa when they grew older to join the exiled political movements and continued to fight apartheid from abroad. The ones who stayed behind also played a significant role as they ensured the ongoing support of the exiled political movements within the townships.
The Aftermath:
South Africans including white South Africans were outraged by the reaction of the government to the riots. The apartheid governmnet denied ever having fired the first shots and even to this day the riots are portrayed differently within the white and black communities. In the white communities there are countless pictures that depicts the black students as being the violent ones by bomabrding the police with stones and glass bottles. On the other hand, in the black community there are pictures showing white policemen shooting at defenseless school children. Although both communities have different interpretations of the riots, it does not remove the fact that hundreds of children died that day. Almost immediately after the riots came to an end, over 300 white students from universities in Johannesburg marched to show their anger towards theapartheid government for killing school children. The picture of Hector Pieterson's dead body which was captured by journalsists, outraged millions and brought down international condemnation on the apartheid government. Images of the riots spread all over the world and millions of people were shocked. There were many protests held outside of South Africa, for example, in the United Kingdom, people protested outside the office of the South African Embassy. Economic sanctions were placed on the apartheid government by the United Nations, however, it would take eighteen years before apartheid was succesfully eliminated within South Africa.
The Signifnace of the Sowetu Uprisings:
The Sowetu Uprisings were significant because it is an event that signified the end of apartheid. Before the riots blacks did not entirely resist the regime, due to fear. Howevere, the riots awakened blacks and taught them how to resist and also made them realise that they cand resist apartheid. White citizens also started to withdraw their support from the government. Parents of the black students in Sowetu started to lead by their children's example and started to organize themselves into anti- apartheid movements. These movements combined with international pressure and economic sanctions eventually led to the succesful ending of apartheid 1994 when South African held its first democratic elections. June 16th, 1976 will always be remebered and the courage of so many young South Africans will be taught and for many years to come. The democratic South African government has honored these students by declaring June 16th South African Youth Day.
