Soweto Uprising

In June 1976 schoolchildren in Soweto rose against Afrikaans-language instruction, igniting a nationwide revolt that transformed the anti-apartheid struggle.

Overview

The 1976 decree forcing Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in Black schools crystallized resentment of Bantu education, designed to prepare Black children for subordinate labor. On 16 June 1976 some twenty thousand students marched; police opened fire, and thirteen-year-old Hector Pieterson, photographed dying in the arms of a fellow student, became the image seen worldwide. Protests spread to townships across the country, and hundreds were killed over the following year. The uprising radicalized a generation into the African National Congress and the Black Consciousness movement, revived the exiled organizations, and put apartheid on the defensive internationally. June 16 is now Youth Day in South Africa, honoring the students whose revolt began the regime endgame.