Don’t forget the lessons of 1976

The events of June 1976 – in Soweto and elsewhere around South Africa – were a watershed in SA history. School children took to the streets in a violent protest against the Afrikaans language as a medium of instruction.

That may have sparked the revolt, but it was fuelled by the bitterness of a conquered people … people who wanted to remove their colonisers and decide on their own destiny.

It was the start of a groundswell, which would not let up until democracy finally arrived in 1994.

What will be forgotten in all the self-serving commemorations and fine words by politicians over this weekend, was that the movement which began in Soweto 42 years ago, was not initiated, or controlled, by any political movement. It was a genuine outpouring of frustration by people.

Author Padraig O’Malley once wrote that the civil unrest across SA – which started in 1976 and continued into the ’80s – had taken the ANC by surprise.

He wrote: “The people moved, took matters into their own hands and began to organise their own revolution. In the end, the ANC was astute enough to grab its coat-tails and eventually claim ownership of the coat itself.”

That is something to bear in mind as the fine speeches tumble forth.

However, of more importance – and grave concern, some might say – is that in some parts of the country, history appears to be repeating itself. People are fed up and are rising up against the oppression of failed service delivery and corruption.

As in 1976 and later, these mini-uprisings are not the deliberate work of a political party trying to destabilise or even overthrow the ANC administration. They are a people’s revolt.

And, if the ANC failed to notice what was happening in June 1976, they should pay attention now.

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