Today is Youth Day which commemorates the violent and tragic events of 16 June 1976 in Soweto. Bulie Gxabe was a year younger than her daughter Thelu in 1976 – but she vividly remembers 16 June.
She was 7 and at school in Zwelitsha near King WIlliam’s Town, where her family lived.
Today is Youth Day which commemorates the violent and tragic events of 16 June 1976 in Soweto. Bulie Gxabe was a year younger than her daughter Thelu in 1976 – but she vividly remembers 16 June.
She was 7 and at school in Zwelitsha near King WIlliam’s Town, where her family lived.
“My brother was in high school,” she told Grocott’s Mail this week.
“He ran to my school and picked me up. He took me and left me in a safe place.
“The students were toyi-toyiing to our school. The police were going to move in at any time and he didn’t want me to get mixed up in it,” Gxabe recalled.
She’s a teacher at Archie Mbolekwa Senior Primary School in Grahamstown, and together with colleagues Thembakazi Gumenge and Nozithembiso Ngqoba, she decided to honour the courage of young people by wearing a school uniform.
Ngqoba was 4 or 5 in 1976.
Gumenge was born on 15 June 1976 – she was one day old.
School pupils were angered by the introduction in 1974 of Afrikaans alongside English as a medium of instruction in schools.
SA History (http://www.sahistory.org.za) summarises the significance of 16 June 1976 as follows:
“The June 16 1976 uprising that began in Soweto and spread countrywide profoundly changed the socio-political landscape in South Africa.”
“On 16 June 1976 between 3 000 and 10 000 students mobilized by the South African Students Movement's Action Committee supported by the BCM marched peacefully to demonstrate and protest against the government’s directive.
The march was meant to culminate at a rally in Orlando Stadium.
“On their pathway they were met by heavily armed police who fired teargas and later live ammunition on demonstrating students.
This resulted in a widespread revolt that turned into an uprising against the government.
While the uprising began in Soweto, it spread across the country and carried on until the following year.”
Material from SA ‘The June 16 Soweto Youth Uprising’ (bit.ly/1L7pOTQ) from South African History Online, www.sahistory.org.za reproduced in accordance with Creative Commons Licence.
sue@grocotts.co.za
