Nelson Mandela was in jail for nearly 12 years by the time the youth of Soweto rose against the racist apartheid regime in 1976.
His incarceration for fighting against a modern day form of institutionalized slavery was supposed to be the final blow towards destroying the resistance to a racist system, which, in the words of one of its key architects, HF Verwoerd, would make Black people “drawers of water and hewers of wood.”
The Bantu (people) Education system was promulgated in South Africa in 1953, and in 1974, motions were set afoot to make the language of the apartheid regime compulsory in black schools. Apart from producing Black people who would be “drawers of water and hewers of wood,” the core objective of this education system policy was to produce people who, in the words of its chief engineer (Verwoerd), would teach Black youth from early on that “ …equality with the Europeans is not for them (blacks)…”
Statue of African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, Nelson Mandela. After the apartheid, he became President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. (Photo: Thinkstock)
The Bantu Education system was introduced into a constellation of other laws which were passed by the apartheid regime towards reducing black people into nothing but factors of production. It is these constellation of laws that Nelson Mandela (together with his contemporaries) fought against. And it was these laws that led to their arrest and conviction of life imprisonment.
The imprisonment of a generation leaders, still in their prime and relatively young, dealt a severe blow to the resistance movement against apartheid. But the idea of freedom is something that they inherited from other freedom fighters who preceded them, such as Nobel Laureate Chief Albert Luthuli and Pixley Seme. Interestingly, after studying at Columbia University, Seme was awarded the Curtis Medal of Oratory and founded the African National Congress (ANC) in 1912. These leaders planted the seeds around the idea of freedom.
From these leaders, the ideas of freedom began to blossom and find a new form again through a fresh set of youthful eyes and energy in the shape of a movement of youth, who would proclaim and affirm that “Black is beautiful” and disavow the ideas or adjectives such as “non-White”. The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), whose figurehead would emerge as Steven Bantu Biko, re-energized the resistance movement by conscientizing — a new generation of youth and creating a new approach towards resistance, by affirming the self against the de-affirmation produced by various legislation passed by the apartheid government. This movement was led by youth and was contextually radical even to the distress of their parents, who feared that resistance would lead to the demise of their children.
Steve Biko and a cohort of other youth leaders, like Onkgopotse Tiro, re-radicalized the struggle and resistance against apartheid. They created awareness of the various forms of oppression and doom of every Black child under the apartheid regime. This movement eventually drew in some Bhite youth who also opposed the subjugation of Black people. But most importantly, as the movement grew, it galvanized the youth into active resistance against an atrocious regime. It also had the effect of re-energizing banned political organizations and students placed in exile. It further led to the formation of the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (SOMAFCO) in the East African state of Tanzania for exiled South African youth.
Photo of Youth Movement (Photo courtesy of Anne Heffernan)
The Biko generation’s resistance would build incredible momentum, which 40 years ago, culminated into what is popularly known as the June 16 Soweto Uprising. On this day, following secret plannings by students and some teachers, particularly precipitated by the enforcement of the Afrikaans language policy, students held a peaceful march. It is reported that 10,000 youth took to the streets of Soweto to march against the language policy, among other repressive laws. On this day, about 200 unarmed and defenseless children were reported to have been massacred on the streets of Soweto. They had been met by a heavily armed police force which opened live fire against them; turning a peaceful march into a full-on revolt.
Though the origins and epicentre of the protests was Soweto, the uprising spread across South Africa and eventually caught the attention of the United Nations. The entity then requested the subsequent and exiled President of the African National Congress, Oliver Tambo, to make representations of the events in South Africa.
The actions of these brave youth affirm the critical role of this demographic in moving the world forward and towards a better humanity. Nothing can be as profound as people who have their lives ahead of them, offering their very priceless, irreplaceable and finite commodity, life itself, for posterity. Steve Biko, among others, did just that. He was brutally killed while in police custody in September 1977; just over a year after the Uprising in Soweto. His ideas, however, continue to live on among the youth in South Africa. In 1979, another iconic figure, Solomon Mahlangu, was executed by hanging aged 22. This led the ANC to re-name its school in exile, the Solomon Mahlangu Freddom College (SOMAFCO) after him.
Students Must Rise
Youth Struggle in South Africa Before and Beyond Soweto ‘76 by Anne Heffernan, Noor Nieftagodien
In 2015, inspired by Biko and Mandela, over a million youth, in various demonstrations and protests across the country, caused the South African President to intervene in a university fees impasse that resulted in the shutdown of universities nationwide. Students from various political persuasions and racial demographics came out in large numbers to protest the planned university fee hike that had excluded students who come from impoverished backgrounds.
Rising together, students successfully caused the government to declare that there would be no fee increases for 2016. In some universities, students also registered victories for janitors and other university workers who are underrepresented in decision making structures. Although the victory for workers at these universities was not the central fight for students, it underscores what the youth of 1976 truly inspired. It has bequeathed a legacy of principled activism which has helped transform and return society back to the center of humanity.
In the book, Students Must Rise, the story of this legendary moment in South African history and youth struggles is well captured by different historians. The book provides insight that proves that history is a continuum and in many respects, that it repeats itself.
Students Must Rise honors the bravery of the youth in the southern most part of the African continent. It also connects the youth of yesteryear to the youth of today…they are youth who continue campaigning and fighting for a more just humanity to support those who today seek a better life through education. The anniversary of the Soweto Student Uprising of 1976 is continuing to empower today’s South African students to never let injustice stop them from bringing forth the change they wish to see in education.
Read more about Students Must Rise below:
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