Youth of 1976 honoured in Reiger Park

A Youth Day celebration in Reiger Park 

To remember the student uprising, the House of Nations’ Youth Ministry, on Thursday, gathered at the corner of Leon Ferreira and Goedehoop streets, in Reiger Park, and re-enacted the June 16, 1976 event.

The event was also aimed at helping others remember and understand certain facts on how school children were brutalised and others killed.

Illustrating the tragedy, a group of young people dressed in school uniforms and carrying placards lined the streets and sang a struggle song, before they all fell to the ground, pretending they had been shot, to remember the fallen heroes.

“People need to be reminded in another way to own the future,” said one of the event organisers, Cyril Reeby.

Young people were during the event asked to value education and to stay away from alcohol, illegal substances and crime, to safeguard their future.

Meanwhile other people, both young and old, were seen in different parts of Boksburg wearing their school uniforms in commemoration of Youth Day.

Youth Month pays tribute to the dozens of schoolchildren who lost their lives on June 16, 1976, while protesting against the compulsory use of Afrikaans as the main teaching language in black schools, whereas white pupils could choose in which language to learn.

The day reportedly began with a march by thousands of students carrying banners and slogans, saying “Down with Afrikaans”.

However, the protest is said to have turned violent when the police and armed forces responded to the protest violently, injuring and killing a number of demonstrators.

Police reportedly claimed that the students began throwing stones and other missiles, before they responded by firing live rounds into the crowd.

The event was also marked by other memorials around the country and an official ceremony at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Thursday, addressed by President Jacob Zuma. -@FanieFLK