By Linda Pona
Today we honour and commemorate those who bravely gave their lives in the fight for liberation and equality, the Youth of 1976.
It has been 47 years since the Soweto student uprising, where students marched to oppose the Bantu Education Act, which enforced Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in schools. Before these nationwide uprisings, there were the 1975 Grahamstown student protests. This is when Nathaniel Nyaluza High School learners gathered for a sit-in and refused to write the mid-year examinations. These 1975 Grahamstown student uprisings were among the first in South Africa and would inevitably change the course of history as their protests led to the 1976 student uprisings.
Following the student protests, it was clear that more significant political issues were at play, and they would eventually unfold until democracy was obtained.
In 2023, we witnessed the Rhodes Must Fall protests, which started in 2015 and called for the removal of the Cecil John Rhodes statue at the University of Cape Town (UCT). This paved the way for the Fees Must Fall student Movement, which called for the end of student fee increases. These two movements would eventually lead to the call for decolonising the curriculum. This movement dismantles Western educational values and calls for other knowledge systems.
From both these instances, it is clear that even post-democracy, that history will likely repeat itself because as the events of 1975 led to those of 1976, we also witness the 2015 Rhodes Must Fall catalyst for change.
Considering that history has inevitably repeated itself, what are the lessons to be learned from the class of 1975/6 and that of 2015?
I believe the lesson to be learned is that there are unresolved educational, social, political and economic issues in this country that have not been resolved, especially for the youth and that inevitably, one movement will expose a lot wrong with the system.
So while we celebrate those who came before us, let us continue fighting for youth development so that they can have the best of what this country can offer. And more importantly, when history repeats itself, learn and grow from those lessons.
