The day our child lost confidence.

Soweto uprising

On June 16, 1976, around 20,000 students from various Soweto townships in Johannesburg marched out of their schools to protest the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in local schools. Afrikaans was widely seen as the oppressor’s language. The 1974 Afrikaans Medium Decree had forced all Black schools to teach equally in both Afrikaans and English.

On that day, students gathered at Orlando Stadium to take part in a peaceful protest organized by the Soweto Student Representative Council (SSRC) Action Committee. After the committee stressed discipline, many teachers lent their support to the demonstration.

As the march began, students carried placards reading “Down with Afrikaans,” “Long Live Azania,” and “If We Must Use Afrikaans, Worcester Must Use Zulu.” They soon discovered that the police had blocked their planned route. SSRC leaders urged the marchers not to provoke the police, to divert along an alternate route, and the procession eventually ended near Orlando High School.

When the police unleashed dogs to attack the protesters, the students, defending themselves, killed the dogs with stones. This sparked an uncontrollable clash between the students and the police, who then opened fire on the children. That day, more than 176 people were killed, and the protests rapidly spread to townships across the country.