News: South Africa Celebrates Youth Day

16th of June marks a day in the lives of South Africans. The incidents that took place on the 16th of June, 2016 re-writes history in South Africa. On this day in 1976, students stood up against the Bantu education system. It happened first in Johannesburg Township and spread through other townships around the nation for the rest of the year. The uprising was triggered by apartheid government policies that caused the introduction of the Bantu Education Act in 1953.

During the movement police blocked about 10 000 to 20 000 pupils moving towards the Orlando Stadium. A confrontation ensued near Orlando High, and a 13-year-old Hector Pieterson was killed. The major contention was for the government to stop the use of Afrikaans as the learning language. This movement remains a part of South African history.

 

 

 

The death toll in June 1976 was 176 and thousands were injured. The police ordered township hospitals to report anyone receiving treatment for gunshot wounds, but doctors listed the wounds as abscesses.

It’s 40 years now since the movement and South Africa is remembering the movement via a national public holiday and several national activities.