What Youth Day is about

Youth Day as described by the South African government commemorates the Soweto youth uprising on 16 June 1976.

On that day, the uprisings ended with hundreds of young people killed by the apartheid government when they protested against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.

The government describes it further:

“In 1975 protests started in African schools after a directive from the then Bantu Education Department that Afrikaans had to be used on an equal basis with English as a language of instruction in secondary schools.

“The issue, however, was not so much the Afrikaans as the whole system of Bantu education which was characterised by separate schools and universities, poor facilities, overcrowded classrooms and inadequately trained teachers.”

It’s said that today, the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC), with strong support from the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and various government departments will lead the Youth Day 2015 celebrations and a month-long programme of supporting activities.