World salutes slain children

of Soweto

Over 600 children died in Soweto during a protest

to demand their rights

 

By Fred Ouma

TODAY, the world salutes the children of Soweto. They set a precedent by protesting for a cause so dear to them – even to the point of death. They stood up for what they believed in on that cold and overcast day of June 16, 1976.

They gave birth to Youth Day in South Africa, that was later to be called the Day of the African Child worldwide. This is a day to address the problems affecting the children of African descent and how to help them come out of the quagmire.

Dissatisfied with the inferior quality of their education and angry at being taught Afrikaans –seen as the language of oppression, 10,000 black school children took to Soweto’s streets in peaceful demonstrations.

The authorities responded with force. Armed police lobbed tear gas into the crowd and the students retaliated with rocks. When the mayhem was over, 152 children lay dead. The protests continued into 1977, by which time over 700 young lives had been lost. On June 26, that year, the government revoked the teaching of Afrikaans in all-black schools, a triumph for the anti-apartheid movement.

The revolt marked the beginning of the end of the apartheid regime. Their protest and the resultant punitive action by police opened the world to the oppression in South Africa.

The events on this day were caused by the repressive actions of the Boer minority regime. The Boers perpetuated apartheid, a system of segregating their counterparts, the native Afrikaans, and other African tribes.

Denied equal rights in the sharing of national resources, they were unequally represented in parliament and leadership positions which led to undemocratic leadership. They were represented with some Boers who did not have their interests at heart.

 

The Boers effected different education systems. The natives were given a poor system while their own children attended courses leading to lucrative careers like medicine and law. This ensured that the natives did not have intellectuals amidst them. This has negatively impacted on South Africa today, where most of the adult population is not well-educated.

The natives had a poor health and transport system. They stayed in designated Bantustans villages created to keep them out of the white-only streets. They could not travel in the same buses as the Boers.
The schools for the Africans were poor and crowded and without qualified staff and facilities.

 

The children had called for these problems to be addressed amicably, but the Boers felt threatened to the point of going further to force them to study in the local Afrikaans language to impede their progress. The students got tired and organised a protest that was to be calm yet powerful.

They did not even want to involve their parents. They planned on quietly meeting at the stadium and articulating their grievances in a multitude. They did this with astonishing repercussions. As they gathered in the stadium with fiery speakers passing their message, police came in to disperse them, shooting at helpless, unarmed children. A stampede ensued.

 

They also released police dogs that mauled the children, among other tortures like raping and clobbering. They abused the children in the vilest language too. Many children died for this cause and many were maimed for life.

However, their effort did not go to waste. Reforms started to be effected slowly but surely until 1994, when South Africa attained independence and democratic rule took effect. This was quite a long wait since that day in 1976. It has had double success for all the children of Africa since the grievances are now not only for the children of South Africa but to all humanity.

“This landmark event was a demonstration of great courage and conviction by the children of South Africa, who stood up for what they believed,” says Maj. James Kinobe, Uganda’s State Minister for Youth.
“It’s a powerful reminder of the decisive role that children can have in bringing about change and of the importance of ensuring a quality basic education for all,” he adds.

In 1991, the Organisation of African Unity immortalised the Soweto Uprising by declaring June 16, the Day of the African Child.

This declaration marked an official recognition of the children’s contributions to the struggle against apartheid.

In Uganda, this year’s main event is taking place in Luweero district, under theme, ‘Child Participation: Children to be seen and heard.’