Date: 16/06/2006
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Shilowa: Youth Day
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa at the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the 1976 Uprisings
The President of the Republic
The Deputy President of the Republic
Ministers
MEC Creecy
Executive Mayor Masondo
Chairperson of the National Youth Commission
Chairperson of the Gauteng Youth Commission
Members of the June 16 Foundation
Esteemed guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Thirty years ago the young people of Soweto took to the streets in an organised protest against the tyranny of apartheid oppression.
While the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction was the immediate spark that lit the flame of resistance at that time, the youth rebellion was more than a language issue.
It represented open defiance of the system of racial oppression and control and a rejection of the legitimacy of the apartheid state. The young people of 1976 refused to accept the doctrine of racial inferiority which sought to make them foreigners in the land of their birth; they refused to accept Bantu education which sought to condemn them to menial labour; they refused to accept the daily humiliation of the pass laws, the migrant labour system and the Bantustan system which sought to condemn black people to poverty stricken areas as perpetual pools of cheap labour allowing us into urban areas only to slave in the kitchens, mines and factories of the minority. The young people of 1976 refused to bow down to the brute force of apartheid, the brutality of the police; the indignity and suffering of poverty and exploitation to which their parents were subjected; they refused to believe the lie of separate development. They refused to accept the institutionalised racial discrimination that determined the lives of young people and their communities in 1976.
Their bravery, determination and level of organisation astonished even their parents and brought to the world's attention the true nature of apartheid.
The youth used the only means that they had at their disposal at that time their ability to organise themselves in a peaceful protest. They came out in their numbers all over Soweto. But they were met by police guns, which were to kill hundreds over the period that followed.
While the brute force of the apartheid police quelled the immediate protests, the Soweto uprising represented the beginning of the end for apartheid, unleashing a chain of events that would ultimately lead to its demise.
It had been preceded by the 1973 strikes and other sporadic protests by youth and students in various parts of the country. However, it was the Soweto uprising that inspired the nation, helped revive the spirit of resistance and caught the world's attention.
The 1976 generation paid a heavy price for their courage; hundreds were killed and imprisoned; many were permanently on the run and eventually left the country to swell the ranks of the liberation movement and Umkhonto we Sizwe. They too had reached the conclusion that there comes a time in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices: submit or fight. Like the earlier generation of resistance, they knew that their only choice was to join the fight against apartheid.
They were following in the footsteps of an earlier generation of youth leaders under the leadership of Mandela, Sisulu and Tambo. They had revolutionised the resistance movement in their own way in the 1950s, leading to a period of mass resistance which culminated in the banning and exile of liberation movements.
The combination of the 1976 generation with other generations of revolutionaries proved to be a formidable combination, both in exile and within the country. While the apartheid state tried everything in its power to suppress the new wave of resistance, they never succeed in doing this, leading to what has been called the decade of liberation of the 1980s, the unbanning of political organisations in 1990 and eventually the inception of a democratic state based on the will of its entire people.
So, as we today pay tribute to the youth of 1976, we do so in the knowledge that their struggle was not in vain. We do so in the knowledge that, in the words of Solomon Mahlangu, their blood has nourished the tree of freedom, the fruits of which we can see today. To them we owe a great debt of gratitude for the sacrifices they made for freedom.
As Hector Pietersen's sister, Antoinette Sithole, said recently, Hector’s death brought about change and opened a new chapter in South Africa. "Today, things have changed for the better. Now people have rights."
Today many of the young people whose brave resistance helped bring apartheid to its knees are playing leading roles in our communities, in government, in our workplaces and all spheres of society.
They have continued to put shoulder to the wheel to stand together to build their communities and deepen our democracy. They have been a key driving force behind the progress we have made in reversing apartheid's legacy, in driving development and in building a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.
Today we have a new generation of young people that faces different challenges. Their challenge is no longer to fight and protest against an unjust system; their challenge is to build a democracy which provides for the needs of young people and enables them to reach their full potential; a democracy which is able to harness the energy and creativity of the youth in the interests of their communities and the people as a whole.
In honour of those who lost their lives in 1976 and the entire generation of young people who fought against apartheid, it is up to all of us to redouble our efforts to promote youth development; and it is up to the youth of today in particular, to mobilise and organise themselves to join hands to build a better future for all.
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government
16 June 2006
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Shilowa: Youth Day
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa at the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the 1976 Uprisings
The President of the Republic
The Deputy President of the Republic
Ministers
MEC Creecy
Executive Mayor Masondo
Chairperson of the National Youth Commission
Chairperson of the Gauteng Youth Commission
Members of the June 16 Foundation
Esteemed guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Thirty years ago the young people of Soweto took to the streets in an organised protest against the tyranny of apartheid oppression.
While the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction was the immediate spark that lit the flame of resistance at that time, the youth rebellion was more than a language issue.
It represented open defiance of the system of racial oppression and control and a rejection of the legitimacy of the apartheid state. The young people of 1976 refused to accept the doctrine of racial inferiority which sought to make them foreigners in the land of their birth; they refused to accept Bantu education which sought to condemn them to menial labour; they refused to accept the daily humiliation of the pass laws, the migrant labour system and the Bantustan system which sought to condemn black people to poverty stricken areas as perpetual pools of cheap labour allowing us into urban areas only to slave in the kitchens, mines and factories of the minority. The young people of 1976 refused to bow down to the brute force of apartheid, the brutality of the police; the indignity and suffering of poverty and exploitation to which their parents were subjected; they refused to believe the lie of separate development. They refused to accept the institutionalised racial discrimination that determined the lives of young people and their communities in 1976.
Their bravery, determination and level of organisation astonished even their parents and brought to the world's attention the true nature of apartheid.
The youth used the only means that they had at their disposal at that time their ability to organise themselves in a peaceful protest. They came out in their numbers all over Soweto. But they were met by police guns, which were to kill hundreds over the period that followed.
While the brute force of the apartheid police quelled the immediate protests, the Soweto uprising represented the beginning of the end for apartheid, unleashing a chain of events that would ultimately lead to its demise.
It had been preceded by the 1973 strikes and other sporadic protests by youth and students in various parts of the country. However, it was the Soweto uprising that inspired the nation, helped revive the spirit of resistance and caught the world's attention.
The 1976 generation paid a heavy price for their courage; hundreds were killed and imprisoned; many were permanently on the run and eventually left the country to swell the ranks of the liberation movement and Umkhonto we Sizwe. They too had reached the conclusion that there comes a time in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices: submit or fight. Like the earlier generation of resistance, they knew that their only choice was to join the fight against apartheid.
They were following in the footsteps of an earlier generation of youth leaders under the leadership of Mandela, Sisulu and Tambo. They had revolutionised the resistance movement in their own way in the 1950s, leading to a period of mass resistance which culminated in the banning and exile of liberation movements.
The combination of the 1976 generation with other generations of revolutionaries proved to be a formidable combination, both in exile and within the country. While the apartheid state tried everything in its power to suppress the new wave of resistance, they never succeed in doing this, leading to what has been called the decade of liberation of the 1980s, the unbanning of political organisations in 1990 and eventually the inception of a democratic state based on the will of its entire people.
So, as we today pay tribute to the youth of 1976, we do so in the knowledge that their struggle was not in vain. We do so in the knowledge that, in the words of Solomon Mahlangu, their blood has nourished the tree of freedom, the fruits of which we can see today. To them we owe a great debt of gratitude for the sacrifices they made for freedom.
As Hector Pietersen's sister, Antoinette Sithole, said recently, Hector’s death brought about change and opened a new chapter in South Africa. "Today, things have changed for the better. Now people have rights."
Today many of the young people whose brave resistance helped bring apartheid to its knees are playing leading roles in our communities, in government, in our workplaces and all spheres of society.
They have continued to put shoulder to the wheel to stand together to build their communities and deepen our democracy. They have been a key driving force behind the progress we have made in reversing apartheid's legacy, in driving development and in building a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.
Today we have a new generation of young people that faces different challenges. Their challenge is no longer to fight and protest against an unjust system; their challenge is to build a democracy which provides for the needs of young people and enables them to reach their full potential; a democracy which is able to harness the energy and creativity of the youth in the interests of their communities and the people as a whole.
In honour of those who lost their lives in 1976 and the entire generation of young people who fought against apartheid, it is up to all of us to redouble our efforts to promote youth development; and it is up to the youth of today in particular, to mobilise and organise themselves to join hands to build a better future for all.
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government
16 June 2006
Advertisement
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
