Today in History: Hewat Teacher Training College set alight
Has history repeated itself?
On 6 August 1976, the Hewat Teacher Training College in Athlone was set alight, in solidarity with the students from University of the Western Cape, who had convened a meeting on 2 August to express their solidarity with the students of Soweto.
They decided to embark on a boycott of classes. Two days later, a fire destroyed classrooms and the principal’s office at Struts Bay, Cape Town.
By 10 August 1976, a prefabricated building that was part of the Peninsula College for Advanced Technical Education had been gutted. Three explosions also took place at Die Goeiehoop Primary School in Cape Town.
Administrative buildings, beer halls, bottle stores and shops that had not yet been gutted were destroyed. The damage was estimated at R2 million in just 36 hours of fighting.
The University of Cape Town provided one group that marched towards the centre of town, giving the Black Power salute to passing ‘blacks’ until they were stopped by the police.
Seventy-three students were arrested.
See also:
•Throwback Thursday: Rhodes Must Fall Movement Gallery
•Gauteng protests cost province R65 million
