The 16th of June is an important date on South Africa’s calendar. So much so that it is an official holiday that has been titled “Youth Day.” Th

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2021-06-20 17:00:09

The 16th of June is an important date on South Africa’s calendar. So much so that it is an official holiday that has been titled “Youth Day.”

The short version of it is that students across South Africa were gatvol with new Bantu Education regulations that required them to learn Afrikaans. Not only learn Afrikaans, but in some cases be taught in Afrikaans too. In response, the students organized country-wide protests that primarily focused on Afrikaans being abolished in schools. These protests were most intense in Soweto and as a result, the Apartheid government’s police focused their efforts on Soweto.

The police didn’t spare any of their force as they unleashed sjamboks and bullets on the peacefully protesting and unarmed students. This led to one of the iconic photos from the protests of a crying Mbuyisa Makhubu carrying a young Hector Pietersen who was fatally shot by the police.

Beyond protesting against the regulations of the Apartheid government, the “Youth Day” protests were about fighting a culture trying to impose itself on them and dominate them. In this instance, it was about imposing Afrikaans on the students.