Durban’s next generation shares thoughts on Youth Day

IT’S been 45 years since the 1976 uprising in Soweto when more than 20 000 students protested after a directive from Bantu Education Department that Afrikaans had to be used on an equal basis with English as a language of instruction in secondary schools.

A minimum of 176 people were killed with some estimates ranging up to 700.

June is Youth Month with 16 June commemorated as Youth Day.

Here’s what some youth had to say: 

Lwazólubanzi Biyela from Glenwood said: “Youth Month means honouring and remembering the sacrifices that the youth of 1976 went through in order for us to be free and have the ability to say whatever we feel and voice our opinions freely. To celebrate it, we usually have gatherings with the youth at church where we have youth talks over lunch. We pray for the youth of today who have drug problems, and also pray for the unemployment of youth.”

Glenwood resident, Tebogo Ndlovu: “To celebrate Youth Month around campus, I am working with a few people on a film, which is going to attract a lot of youth. We are trying to break the boundaries of what youth usually do. Youth day tells us about the significant part youth had to play in order to end the systematic alienation of black students during the apartheid regime.”

Glenwood resident, Wande Dlodlongwana said: “This month means a lot to us as youth. A lot has changed, for the better of course. We are now able to go to multi-racial schools. That’s very special because it shows change and its pleasing to see that happening.”

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Nomthandazo Ngwane, from the Durban CBD, said: “During apartheid times, youth fought for education and were killed for it. They were taught in Afrikaans. One of the most famous victims of the day was Hector Pieterson. We are now liberated and we are able to go anywhere where we as black people were not allowed to enter. To celebrate Youth Day, I spend time with my family.”

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