National Youth Day and the Anniversary of the Soweto Uprisings

Today marks the 37th anniversary of the Soweto Uprisings, a day that has scarred South African history, and one that is seen by most as a key moment in the anti-apartheid fight. Soweto, which is comprised of over 87 townships, stands for Southwestern Townships, and is located on the outskirts of Johannesburg. The area is a vast majority black and has almost 1 million people residing in it. Established as an area where black miners and their families could live (so as to keep them out of the city of Johannesburg), Soweto became one of the largest township settlements under the Apartheid regime and has had a number of famous residents such as Nelson Mandela and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu. However, the real reason Soweto is so well known is because of the riots that took place there in 1976. The Apartheid regime had just announced that they would be forcing all schooling and testing to be in dual Afrikaans and English, ignoring the native languages spoken in the area and virtually guaranteeing the failure of thousands of black students who grew up speaking Zulu, Sesotho, Setswana, Xhosa and various other languages. Feeling further objectified by the Apartheid regime thousands of students gathered to rally and make sure their voices (in their respective languages) were heard. Shortly tensions gathered and state police opened fire on students killing anywhere from 200-500 people in a matter of days. The first death was of a 12 year old boy named Hector Pieterson, whose image of his death was made famous by a local photojournalist Sam Nzima, and subsequently united anti-apartheid activists throughout not only South Africa, but the world.

Thirty-seven years later June 16th is celebrated as a national youth day in South Africa, school and work are cancelled and various marches take place throughout the country to remind South Africans of the power of the youth. In the short period of time since I've been in South Africa I've heard vast criticisms of the youth today, that they don't care, that they don't appreciate and recognize their elders, that they don't know struggle. And while I don't question the fact that their struggles are vastly different than those experienced by the youth in Soweto in 1976, I think to discount the power of youth in South Africa is a grave mistake. Perhaps because there isn't one overarching evil to fight against like there was during the Apartheid, people feel as though the youth aren't involved and don't care. I would argue the opposite, the youth I've met since being in South Africa, whether it be the 14 year old girls in the township of Kalkfontein or a 20 something at a local jazz bar, are fully invested in the future of this country and are extremely critical of the current practices of the government. Maybe their methods are different, the mediums through which they express themselves have changed, it could be that their beliefs on where South Africa should be aren't those that are popularly held amongst older South Africans regardless, the youth of South Africa, a population that makes up nearly half of the country, are invested and involved. To ignore this fact and disengage with the youth population is truly to give up on the future of South Africa.

When traveling around South Africa one gets the feeling that there's a change in the air, for the first time since the creation of the Apartheid, there is a generation coming of age that has never lived under the repressive regime, the 'born frees'. It is not to suggest that their lives are without struggle, thousands still live without access to sewage systems, clean water, reliable shelter or proper nutrition. But as 'born frees' they do not live with the overhang of oppression, racism and the lack of a future that the Apartheid regime was so quick to establish. They are the first generation that since birth have been given a politically equal chance to establish the life that they want for themselves, and the future that they want for South Africa. A level of empowerment that is virtually unknown to all other generations of South Africans, and a remarkable opportunity for the future.