June 16, 1976 – First Youth Day in South Africa

On June 16, 1976 in South Africa, a protest that began by students in Soweto, a township outside of Johannesburg, and spread countrywide, resulted in profound changes to the socio-political landscape of South Africa.

Originally, Black Soweto students planned a peaceful protest of a new education law that required Black students to be taught in Afrikaans rather than English. Afrikaans was the language of the white rulers of South Africa. South Africa was governed by a system called apartheid, which enforced discrimination towards and segregation of Black citizens.

On June 16, 1976, thousands of students headed for Orlando Stadium for a rally. They were met by heavily armed police who fired teargas and later live ammunition on demonstrating students.

Hector Zolile Pieterson was “an ordinary twelve-year-old boy” who went to the Non-White school in Soweto. On June 16, however, Hector and a friend saw that no one was attending school, and they gravitated toward the sound of chanting and singing of students heading toward the stadium where the protest was being held.

The police tried to block the protestors with tear gas and live bullets. Antoinette, Hector’s older sister, saw him there and yelled that he should run for home right away. But as Hector ran, he was shot and killed by police.

Photojournalist Sam Nzima captured a picture of Hector’s dead body being carried away by a protestor with Antoinette by his side. The police had tried to confiscate Nzima’s film but he stuffed the role documenting the violence into his sock. The newspaper – by Blacks and for Blacks – “The World,” published the photo the next day. It was picked up by the international press. Time Magazine reports that “by the next day, Nzima’s photo was splashed across the front pages of newspapers from New York to Moscow. Suddenly the world could no longer ignore the horror of apartheid. Almost overnight, international opinion hardened against South Africa’s apartheid regime.”

It should be noted that in that protest, at least 176 Black students, many of them children, including Hector Pieterson, lost their lives.

By the third day the unrest had gained momentum and spread to townships around Soweto and other parts of the country.

June 16 is now National Youth Day in South Africa in honor of the youth who lost their lives during the Soweto Uprising. It is an annual public holiday in South Africa, “in which South Africans remember the significance of the Soweto Uprisings and the bravery of those involved, as well as the importance of supporting the youth across the country.”

You can read a detailed history of the uprising and subsequent protests, as well as the history behind it, here.