Lives were put on the line for a better tomorrow. All did not go into vain. Today as we stand, free education reigns and all languages prevail in schools. Some youth feel as though the June 16 meaning over the years have been lost.
Nkosinathi Langa, a student from University of Johannesburg feels that the meaning is no longer the same. “I feel as though we as the youth of today, we just celebrate June 16 but we don’t know the proper meaning behind it. We abuse our rights these days and we forget that blood was shed by youth in the past for us but we don’t use it to the best of our ability,” commented Langa.
Adults also feel like their younger ones have lost the meaning behind June 16 and use it as an excuse to go drink.
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Thato Makae, a resident of Soweto feels great disappointment from the youth of today. “If it wasn’t for the lockdown regulations, the young ones would excuse of this day to go celebrate and have fun all day. So luckily now, we have to stay indoors and clubbing hotspots have been closed. But I sincerely feel like the youth of today don’t respect the value of this day at all. They abuse their rights and don’t want to stand up for what happened in the past,” said Makae.
Not many feel this way. Bontle Makhene, a youth from Soweto feels that the youth still stands for the meaning of June 16. “ I feel like we as youth of today still remember what June 16 was all about because we still value the education system hence not so long ago we fought for free education at Tertiary level. And there has been a lot of improvement ever since, we are graduating and putting black empowerment on the map, new innovations are brought up by young black people, so I believe we still stand up for the meaning of June 16,” replied Makhene.
A very significant day to the black youth of South Africa. A day that sets a reminder for many that anything is possible as long as we strive and fight for it. Blood was shed for equality education system. The youth of today reep the benefits of the fight the youth of yesterday fought for.
“I feel like we shouldn’t celebrate June 16, because many of us are just losing jobs. The youth of today is unemployed. Yes they fought for us in the past, yes we go to school but the question is, what happens to us after schooling?. I feel like there is no use for us to celebrate June 16 in the present day especially because of the circumstances we are facing currently.”
“June 16 is the historical day in South Africa, June 16 marks the Soweto uprising in 1976 which was when we saw the country losing the lives of youth, the sacrifices they made for us to be here today. But I feel like the importance of the day has been forgotten. The youth no longer celebrates this day for what it is, blood was shed and pain was felt but today the youth celebrate it not because of the actual meaning but just to have fun. I am what I am today because of the uprising that happened in 1976.”
Senamile Mbatha.
“June 16 has led to great changes in the modern day, as we can see currently that no student is forced to learn in Afrikaans. What they fought for in the past has become a great success. We can see this by the equality and the freedom we have now in our country, it’s a day we have to celebrate to remind ourselves and to celebrate the heroic youth of yesterday that made us to have the rights we have today. So I am thankful of the Uprising that happened cause I am able to stand today and have a proper education system and I can learn in any language of my choice and I can even study any career if my choice all because of the June 16.”
Sabelo Ndlagamandla.
“I don’t think we are still celebrating youth day for what it really is anymore, because we have forgotten the significance of this particular day. The youth of today, we don’t celebrate it in a good manner. Celebrating in a proper way means upholding the values of the specific holiday and to know why did they die during the uprising. I think today we are lost, I feel like most people don’t know the real meaning behind it, for example like hector Peterson’s death, most of us don’t even know the name of the guy who was holding the body of Hector Peterson. So we as the youth have to go back and do an introspection. All we do in the modern day as youth is that we celebrate with alcohol, and a lot of fun and drugs involved. In the past they were not about that lifestyle, they focused on fighting for equality and to fight against oppression. For us the present youth, we have deviated away from that. We are not celebrating it as we were supposed to have done.
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