Fifty years after the Soweto uprising changed the course of South African history, veterans of the struggle say the freedoms won in 1976 are being undermined by unemployment, poor infrastructure and a failure to create opportunities for young people.
On June 16 1976, pupils took to the streets in protest against the apartheid government’s decision to impose Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.
The uprising became a defining moment in the fight against apartheid and inspired a generation of resistance across the country.
For Xolani Steve Mene, 66, of Ginsberg in Qonce, the memories remain vivid.
Mene was 16 when he and 11 others were arrested after the June 16 uprising, accused of burning down Forbes Grant Senior Secondary School in what was seen as a local response to the Soweto protests.
The retired health department employee said they endured severe torture at the hands of apartheid security police.
“We wanted equal education. Today, things have improved but the infrastructure in schools is still not the same,” Mene said.
“Schools are still using pit latrines even today. Schools have mixed races today and we managed to do that,” Mene said.
He described apartheid as a system built on discrimination and exclusion.
“There were certain areas where we couldn’t walk. We had to be at Ginsberg at a certain time or else.
“All we wanted was to be met halfway but the apartheid system made it seem that we were unruly.
“I’m proud that I was part of that rise. It was hard in our day but we paved a way for them.”
Mene said many former activists paid a heavy personal price for their involvement.
“After our arrest, the system didn’t want us to further our education. I had to go to the Transkei to study further and because of family dynamics, I had to work.”
His concern now is the rise of substance abuse among young people.
“What pains me is the substance abuse. We were focused on our future, education and sport.”
He urged young people to find positive role models, avoid drugs and alcohol, and become involved in community development.
Another member of the group arrested in 1976, Thembile Duna, 68, said the trauma of detention remained with him decades later.
Duna and nine others spent about six months in custody before being acquitted.
Two of the accused, Mzwabantu Lumkwana and Monde Mbekwa, were convicted.
“The security police used to come almost every day ... torturing us, wanting us to sign these statements,” Duna said.
“They even came on December 24 and they tortured you even on that day.”
He said police pressured them to sign statements implicating their co-accused and wanted them to become state witnesses.
“Under duress we signed those statements. But in court we told the judge everything of what happened.”
Duna said anti-apartheid activist Griffiths Mxenge represented them after intervention from his cousin, Steve Biko, who visited them while they were in custody.
Even after their release, he said, police harassment continued and made it difficult to study or find employment.
“We were described as terrorists,” Duna said.
“That didn’t dampen my spirit. Instead, it instilled more vigour in me to continue to fight the system.”
Despite the suffering, Duna believes the struggle was worthwhile.
“It definitely was worth it because the youth of 1976 changed the history of SA and they really need to be honoured for that.”
His concern today is the lack of opportunities available to young people.
“It’s so painful to see the youth nowadays involved in all the wrong things. I don’t blame them because the problem is with our leaders.
“If you look around King William’s Town [Qonce], especially Ginsberg, there are no sports facilities to keep them away from these social ills.”
Former anti-apartheid activist and businessman Khusta Jack was more critical of the democratic era that followed.
He described the current state of the country as a betrayal of the hopes that inspired the youth of 1976.
“The disappointment and the failure is sensational in terms of achieving what the objectives of the June 16 youth were,” Jack said.
“They have betrayed not only the youth but the entire nation because the youth had high hopes that when we take over power, we’re going to make life easy for our people.”
Jack said the generation of 1976 was driven by ideals rather than personal gain.
“The youth that took to the streets in 1976 was militant, it was radical, and it was not a matter of fighting for personal gain or glory.”
He said unemployment, failing infrastructure, weaknesses in the health system and crime were among the major challenges facing the country.
“They are a far cry from the dreams that we had when we believed that we were fighting to the finish.”
Political analyst Prof Mcebisi Ndletyana of the University of Johannesburg said the uprising fundamentally altered SA’s political trajectory.
“It changed the course of the anti-apartheid struggle,” Ndletyana said.
He said apartheid had sought to convince black South Africans that they were incapable of governing themselves through education, public symbolism and exclusion.
Reflecting on the present, Ndletyana said modern youth politics had drifted away from the ideals that defined 1976.
“I think we have failed in a fundamental way,” he said.
“What has happened with youth politics is that they have been consumed by materialism; they have been hijacked and they’ve become pawns in ill-conceived causes.”
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