protesting for freedom

lovedelia

,South Africa

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PROTESTING FOR FREEDOM

In 1976 the government introduced the compulsory use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction from Grade 7 - then Standard 5. Circuit inspectors and principals received the directive: "It has been decided that for the sake of uniformity English and Afrikaans will be used as media of instruction in our schools on a 50-50 basis." What this meant was that maths and social studies were to be taught in Afrikaans, while general science and practical subjects such as housecraft and woodwork would be taught in English. Bonner and Segal say one of the reasons for this ruling was that television was to be introduced to South Africa in 1976, and "Afrikaans-speaking conservatives feared that it would strengthen the position and status of English in the country". It was also felt that black school children were becoming too assertive and "forcing them to learn in Afrikaans would be a useful form of discipline". Besides, the government argued, it paid for black education, so it could determine the language of instruction. This was not strictly true. White children had free schooling, but black parents had to pay R51 - about half a month's salary - a year for each child, in addition to buying textbooks and stationery and contributing to the costs of building schools. The disparity in the government subsidy was telling: R644 was spent on each white child, but only R42 on each black child. Pupils, teachers and principals opposed the ruling on Afrikaans, for more or less the same reasons: teachers were ill-equipped to teach in the language, which was for most a third language.

16 June 1976- A fight for Freedom

The student action started as a peaceful protest march by more than 20 000 youths against the use of Afrikaans on equal basis with English as a language of instruction in Black secondary schools, but escalated into a nation-wide revolt, irreversibly revitalising the struggle for liberation in South Africa. Apart from the language issue, students were also agitating for better education, equivalent to that of their White counter parts. When the police used teargas to disperse the crowd, the students started to throw stones at the police, who responded by firing live bullets at the protesters. At this stage thirteen year old Hector Petersen was killed. A Rand Daily Mail reporter described the scene as follows: “The police then fired a few shots, some into the air and others into the crowd. I saw four school children fall to the ground” After this incident, chaos reigned. During the following days crowds attacked everything they associated with the White government. Vehicles and buildings were stoned and set alight and two White officials were beaten to death. The unrest was not confined to Soweto, but soon spread to other parts of the country. The police retaliated with force in an attempt to quell the rioting. 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, June 16, previously known as Soweto Day, marks the celebration and commemoration of the events, which unfolded on 16 June 1976. It is celebrated annually since 1994.

16 June 1976: a day that changed the course of South Africa's history

Protesting students marched towards Orlando Stadium, where they planned to hold a meeting. They were intercepted by the police in Moema Street, where things quickly got out of hand, and the first shot was fired