30th anniversary of the 1976 Uprisings
16 June 2006
The President of the Republic
The Deputy President of the Republic
Ministers
MEC Creecy
Executive Mayor Masondo
Chairperson of the National Youth Commission
Chairperson of the Gauteng Youth Commission
Members of the June 16 Foundation
Esteemed guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Thirty years ago the young people of Soweto took to the streets in an
organised protest against the tyranny of apartheid oppression.
While the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction was the
immediate spark that lit the flame of resistance at that time, the youth
rebellion was more than a language issue.
It represented open defiance of the system of racial oppression and control
and a rejection of the legitimacy of the apartheid state. The young people of
1976 refused to accept the doctrine of racial inferiority which sought to make
them foreigners in the land of their birth; they refused to accept Bantu
education which sought to condemn them to menial labour; they refused to accept
the daily humiliation of the pass laws, the migrant labour system and the
Bantustan system which sought to condemn black people to poverty stricken areas
as perpetual pools of cheap labour allowing us into urban areas only to slave
in the kitchens, mines and factories of the minority. The young people of 1976
refused to bow down to the brute force of apartheid, the brutality of the
police; the indignity and suffering of poverty and exploitation to which their
parents were subjected; they refused to believe the lie of separate
development. They refused to accept the institutionalised racial discrimination
that determined the lives of young people and their communities in 1976.
Their bravery, determination and level of organisation astonished even their
parents and brought to the world's attention the true nature of apartheid.
The youth used the only means that they had at their disposal at that time
their ability to organise themselves in a peaceful protest. They came out in
their numbers all over Soweto. But they were met by police guns, which were to
kill hundreds over the period that followed.
While the brute force of the apartheid police quelled the immediate
protests, the Soweto uprising represented the beginning of the end for
apartheid, unleashing a chain of events that would ultimately lead to its
demise.
It had been preceded by the 1973 strikes and other sporadic protests by
youth and students in various parts of the country. However, it was the Soweto
uprising that inspired the nation, helped revive the spirit of resistance and
caught the world's attention.
The 1976 generation paid a heavy price for their courage; hundreds were
killed and imprisoned; many were permanently on the run and eventually left the
country to swell the ranks of the liberation movement and Umkhonto we Sizwe.
They too had reached the conclusion that there comes a time in the life of any
nation when there remain only two choices: submit or fight. Like the earlier
generation of resistance, they knew that their only choice was to join the
fight against apartheid.
They were following in the footsteps of an earlier generation of youth
leaders under the leadership of Mandela, Sisulu and Tambo. They had
revolutionised the resistance movement in their own way in the 1950s, leading
to a period of mass resistance which culminated in the banning and exile of
liberation movements.
The combination of the 1976 generation with other generations of
revolutionaries proved to be a formidable combination, both in exile and within
the country. While the apartheid state tried everything in its power to
suppress the new wave of resistance, they never succeed in doing this, leading
to what has been called the decade of liberation of the 1980s, the unbanning of
political organisations in 1990 and eventually the inception of a democratic
state based on the will of its entire people.
So, as we today pay tribute to the youth of 1976, we do so in the knowledge
that their struggle was not in vain. We do so in the knowledge that, in the
words of Solomon Mahlangu, their blood has nourished the tree of freedom, the
fruits of which we can see today. To them we owe a great debt of gratitude for
the sacrifices they made for freedom.
As Hector Pietersen's sister, Antoinette Sithole, said recently, Hectorâs
death brought about change and opened a new chapter in South Africa. "Today,
things have changed for the better. Now people have rights."
Today many of the young people whose brave resistance helped bring apartheid
to its knees are playing leading roles in our communities, in government, in
our workplaces and all spheres of society.
They have continued to put shoulder to the wheel to stand together to build
their communities and deepen our democracy. They have been a key driving force
behind the progress we have made in reversing apartheid's legacy, in driving
development and in building a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous
South Africa.
Today we have a new generation of young people that faces different
challenges. Their challenge is no longer to fight and protest against an unjust
system; their challenge is to build a democracy which provides for the needs of
young people and enables them to reach their full potential; a democracy which
is able to harness the energy and creativity of the youth in the interests of
their communities and the people as a whole.
In honour of those who lost their lives in 1976 and the entire generation of
young people who fought against apartheid, it is up to all of us to redouble
our efforts to promote youth development; and it is up to the youth of today in
particular, to mobilise and organise themselves to join hands to build a better
future for all.
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government
16 June 2006
Source: SAPA
