Youth Day is observed in South Africa on June 16. The Soweto Uprising, which occurred on June 16, 1976, when the apartheid regime assaulted hundreds of students, is remembered on Youth Day.
South Africans honor the lives of these students on Youth Day and acknowledge the contribution of youth to the country’s liberation from the apartheid system.
Youth Day became a recognized holiday when?
In order to honor the young people who lost their lives during the Soweto Uprising and to commemorate the progress our nation has achieved toward equality and equal opportunity for the youth, the newly elected democratic government designated June 16 to be Youth Day in 1995. In South Africa, it is currently a national holiday.
Since the 1976 uprising, Soweto has made significant progress. South Western Townships is referred to by the term Soweto. The informal settlements of the first mine workers who arrived in the region during the late-1800s gold rush served as the foundation for the municipality itself.
What is the South African tradition for Youth Day?
We observed Youth Day in South Africa in June of 2020 amid the backdrop of yet another rebellion led by youth. Following the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak earlier in 2020, the Black Lives Matter Movement saw a revival. Floyd’s death sparked a sizable number of demonstrations and riots around the globe that demanded an end to prejudice, institutionalized racism, and police brutality.
In South Africa, we can observe Youth Day by remembering and honoring individuals who protested the repressive Apartheid regime and took action. We also pay tribute to the people who have lost their lives as a result of oppression in all its manifestations, both historically and today. Students in South Africa’s schools, colleges, and universities utilize Youth Day to hold conversations about educational concerns.
There are presently no significant Youth Day celebrations because to COVID-19, but we may educate ourselves and draw lessons from what happened on June 16 instead.
A demonstration in Soweto on June 16, 1976, that was primarily attended by high school students was greeted with a brutal police repression, which sparked a wave of protests and deadly confrontations throughout South Africa. Today, South Africans recall the significance of the Soweto Uprisings and the courage of those who participated on Youth Day, an annual public holiday.
Students in Soweto organized a nonviolent demonstration on June 16, 1976, in response to the mandatory introduction of Afrikaans as the primary language of instruction in high schools in the middle of the 1970s, beginning especially with four subjects: mathematics, physical sciences, geography, and biology. They were also motivated by the subpar and racist nature of black education.
Between 5,000 and 20,000 students gathered that morning outside of their classrooms to march toward Orlando Stadium. Police erected a wall along the path and ordered the gathering to disperse.
Police opened fire on the unarmed protestors without any prior notice. 13-year-old Hector Pieterson was one of the first victims, and fellow student Mbuyisa Makhubo grabbed him up and carried him toward a local clinic as Hector’s sister, Antoinette, ran beside them. As police proceeded to fire demonstrators and demonstrators started to riot, targeting apartheid symbols including government buildings, cars, and beer halls, the situation escalated into a major confrontation. Despite only 23 pupils being killed according to official government statistics, the death toll is typically cited as 176, with estimates as high as 700.
