Saheti School celebrated Youth Day with a school assembly featuring emotive speeches and co-curricular presentations.

The assembly was held on June 8.

Saheti Board member Angelique Couloubis said they also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising on June 16, 1976.

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Brave learners at the time marched peacefully against the injustices of the apartheid education and the forced use of Afrikaans in schools.

She added, “One of the most powerful images from that day is a photograph of twelve-year-old Hector Petersen being carried after he was shot during the protests.

The image seen around the world became a symbol of courage, sacrifice and determination of South African youth in the struggle for freedom.”

Couloubis acknowledged that the youth of 1976 changed the course of our nation’s history and reminded the world that young people had the power to challenge injustice and create meaningful change.

Guest speaker, author and diplomat, Doctor Khulu Mbatha, said there was both excitement and pain in having been a part of the moment that changed the course of the country’s history.

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“My 1976 generation of learners and youth discovered and fulfilled the mission of confronting the system of Bantu Education.”

He highlighted two significant points of that generation, with the first being that they said, “Enough is enough”.

Because other attempts had failed, the learners took the struggle from the classroom to the streets. Because to the rulers, education was not a stand-alone, Dr Mbatha noted that this confrontation was an attack on the apartheid system itself.

He recalled how they did not care that these were children. They shot and killed protesting learners, with the uprising soon spreading to all the townships of South Africa. By the end of 1978, Dr Mbatha said thousands of black youth had been killed and imprisoned.

“Many like me were forced to jump fences and cross rivers into the unknown, exile. We are scattered across the world, separated from friends and family. Scattered is the title of my book that tells the story of this generation.”

The second significant point Dr Mbatha made was that the generation of learners and youth had overcome fear. Without self-confidence, you cannot act, he said. Self-confidence arises from knowing yourself.

“Saheti School’s motto is ‘Know Thyself’, which is rooted in ancient Greek philosophy. I quote, ‘Self-awareness is used as a starting point in every person’s life without which, human potential cannot be realised.’ From an early age, you are encouraged to discover and build on your unique strengths.”

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Saheti executive head Morag Rees said every generation believes it is wiser than the one that came before it and believes it has finally figured things out. Unfortunately, she observed, history tells a different story.

“If we are honest, the previous generations, including mine, have made some serious mistakes. We have fought wars that should never have happened. We have divided people based on race, religion, nationality and ideology.

“We have allowed corruption to flourish where integrity should have prevailed. We have consumed resources as though they were limitless, polluted our oceans and rivers, cut down forests, and left future generations, you, to deal with the consequences,” admitted Rees.

She added that that was why Youth Day was important, because every generation faces a defining challenge.

She acknowledged that the youth of 1976 confronted apartheid, while the current generation faces climate change, misinformation, rising intolerance and division across the world, mental health crises, and economic uncertainty.

“But you also possess something incredibly remarkable; you are the most connected generation in human history. You can communicate instantly across the world.”

Rees encouraged the youth to use those resources to bring about positive change.

Cachet director of co-curricular, Erika Lion, said the world needs people who will stand up and not scroll past problems, hoping someone else will solve them.

It needs young people who are willing to stand up for what is right, fair, compassionate and true. She added, “Because every great change in history began when ordinary people decided that remaining seated was no longer an option.”