[lg policy] 40th anniversary of Soweto uprising

Fri Jun 17 15:35:20 UTC 2016

40th Anniversary of Anti-Apartheid Soweto Uprising in South Africa

   - By MORGAN WINSOR

Jun 16, 2016, 4:10 PM ET

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[image: PHOTO: Ms. Nontsikelelo Makhubu is seen next to the iconic
photograph showing Hector Pieterson being carried away during the start of
the Soweto Uprising in 1976, during celebrations to commemorate the 40th
anniversary.]John Wessels/AFP/Getty Images
Ms. Nontsikelelo Makhubu is seen next to the iconic photograph by Sam Nzima
showing Hector Pieterson being carried away during the start of the Soweto
Uprising in 1976, during celebrations to commemorate the 40th anniversary,
June 16, 2016, in Soweto, South Africa. more +
<http://abcnews.go.com/International/south-africa-marks-40th-anniversary-soweto-uprising/story?id=39904203#>

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South Africans today marked the 40th anniversary of the Soweto uprising,
when the streets of the township south-west of Johannesburg were stained
with blood in one of the country’s most notable anti-apartheid uprisings.

Thousands sang and danced at Orlando Stadium in Soweto today, where South
African President Jacob Zuma
<http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/world/jacob-zuma.htm> paid tribute to
<http://http://www.gov.za/speeches/president-jacob-zuma-youth-day-2016-16-jun-2016-0000>
the black students killed by security forces during the 1976 protest
against a government directive that they must study in Afrikaans, the
Dutch-based language of the white minority rulers who enforced a system of
racial segregation known as apartheid. Hundreds are estimated to have been
killed in the government clampdown that followed.

“Students revolted not only against the imposition of Afrikaans but against
Bantu education because they knew it was inferior and that it was designed
to prepare them to be drawers of water and hewers of wood,” Zuma said while
addressing the crowd in Soweto. “Heavily armed police opened fire on the
students as they were marching peacefully and refused to disperse.
Fifteen-year-old Hastings Ndlovu and 12-year-old Hector Pietersen were the
first to be brutally killed by the police.”

Another student, Umbiswa Makhubo, was photographed by a local journalist as
he carried Pietersen’s limp, bloody body. The striking photo was printed by
newspapers around the world, becoming an iconic image of the anti-apartheid
struggle and prompting global outrage at the killings.

A memorial and museum was erected in Pietersen’s name years later near the
area where he was shot. South African Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa led a
wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial today, which is a national holiday
in the country.

During his speech in Soweto today, Zuma hailed South Africa’s achievements
since the Soweto uprising. The country broke free of its apartheid chains
in 1994 and is now Africa’s most industrialized economy.

“Indeed our freedom was not free. Many paid a heavy price for it. Many
lives were destroyed. Many lives were lost,” he told the audience at the
stadium. “The struggle and sacrifices of the class of 1976 were not in
vain.”

But South African youth today are facing a new set of challenges. The
economy grew by just 1.3 percent last year and major sectors have shrunk
due to a weak currency, low consumer demand and rising inflation. South
Africa narrowly avoided a downgrade to its credit rating to junk status
earlier this month, according to Reuters
<http://http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKCN0YS0XB>.

Frustrated by a lack of opportunities, students in recent months have
burned university campuses in protest of high tuition fees, which they feel
put a college education
<http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/education/college-education.htm> out of
reach for black youth. Meanwhile, health officials have said drug abuse is on
the rise
<http://http://www.health24.com/Medical/Addiction/About-addiction/15-of-South-Africans-have-a-drug-problem-20150625>.

“The only person who can liberate you is yourself," Lesedi Mashinini, a
niece of a student leader during the Soweto uprising, said while addressing
the stadium today. "No to drugs and burning of schools."

-- 
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