Soweto Uprising, 16 June 1976

Background

The June 16 Uprisings were a protest by the students against the introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in Black schools. They took place at a time when liberation movements were banned throughout the country and South Africa was in the grip of apartheid. The protest started off peacefully in Soweto but it turned chaotic when the police opened fire on unarmed protesting students. By the third day the unrest had gained momentum and spread to the townships around Soweto and other parts of the country. The class of 1976 bravely took to the streets and overturned the whole notion that workers were the only essential force to challenge the apartheid regime. Indeed, they succeeded where their parents had failed. They not only occupied city centres but also closed schools and alcohol outlets.

There are a various reasons behind the 1976 student uprisings. They can certainly be traced back to the Bantu Education Act introduced by the Apartheid government in 1953. The Act introduced a new Black Education Department which was integrated into the Department of Native Affairs under Dr Hendrik F. Verwoerd. The provisions of the Bantu Education Act and some policy statements made by the Black Education Department were directly responsible for the uprisings. Dr Verwoerd, who engineered the Bantu Education Act announced that "Natives (blacks) must be taught from an early age that equality with Europeans (whites) is not for them."

Although the Bantu Education Act made it easier for more children to attend school in Soweto than it had been with the missionary system of education, there was a great deal of discontent about lack of facilities. Throughout the country there was a dire shortage of classrooms for Black children. There was also a lack of teachers and many of the teachers were under-qualified. Nationally, pupil to teacher ratios went up from 46:1 in 1955 to 58:1 in 1967. Because of the lack of proper classrooms and the crippling government “homeland” policy, students were forced to return to their homelands to attend the newly built schools there.

The government was spending far more on White education than on Black education; R644 was spent annually for each White student, while only R42 was budgeted for a Black school child. Another source of discontent was the announcement by the Department of Education in 1975 that standard six would be phased out in primary schools. This had a disastrous impact because there was serious overcrowding in schools for Blacks. In 1976 there were 257 505 pupils enrolled in Form 1 at high schools whereas the available schools could only accommodate 38 000 students. To alleviate the situation pupils who had passed their standard six examinations were requested to repeat the standard. This was met with great resentment by the students concerned and their parents. Although the situation did not lead to any student revolt at the time, it certainly served to build up tension prior to the 1976 student uprising.

The issue that caused massive discontent and made resentment boil over into the 1976 uprising was a decree issued by the Bantu Education Department. The deputy minister Andries Treurnicht sent instructions to the School Boards, Inspectors and Principals to the effect that Afrikaans should be put on an equal basis with English and had to be used as a medium of instruction in all schools. These instructions drew immediate negative reaction from various quarters of the community. The first body to react was the Tswana School Boards, which comprised school boards from Meadowlands, Dobsonville and other areas in Soweto. The minutes of the meeting of the Tswana School Board held on 20 January 1976 read: "The circuit inspector told the board that the Secretary for Bantu Education has stated that all direct taxes paid by the Black population of South Africa are being sent to the various homelands for educational purposes there. 

" In urban areas the education of a Black child is being paid for by the White population, that is English and Afrikaans speaking groups. Therefore the Secretary for the Bantu Education has the responsibility of satisfying the English and Afrikaans-speaking people. Consequently, as the only way of satisfying both groups, the medium of instruction in all schools shall be on a 50-50 basis.... In future, if schools teach through a medium not prescribed by the department for a particular subject, examination question papers will only be set in the medium with no option of the other language".

Teachers also raised their objections to this government announcement. Some Black teachers, who were members of the African Teachers Association of South Africa, complained that they were not fluent in the language (Afrikaans). The students initially organised themselves into local cultural groups and youth clubs until the formation of an Action Committee on 13 June 1976, which was later renamed the Soweto Student Representative Council (SSRC). They were conscientised and influenced by national organisations such as the Black Peoples' Convention (BPC), South African Student Organisations (SASO) and by the Black Consciousness philosophy. They rejected the idea of being taught in the language of the oppressor.

Sources:

http://africanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa060801a.htm
http://www.petech.ac.za/azasco/june_16_1976.htm

BACK TO MENU