The story of the Class of 76 has been told countless times by people other than the participants in the planning and execution of the first demonstration of 1976.
As a result, confusion, half-truths and myths dominate the stories and perceptions of the population, to the detriment of the truth.
I’m a “born free” – I was born after the release of Nelson Mandela. I’ve just joined the ANC Youth League at Chief Mogale, Maki Lekgwete branch, Ward 2 in Kagiso.
I attended the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) dialogue at the Mosupatsela Senior Secondary School in Kagiso, where the participants called for a shift in economic power to help fight racism in South African. The reason why I attended the youth debate was so that I could get the full story of the events of 16 June 1976. The launch of the 2016 Youth Month took place at the same school, which is also where the 1976 uprising against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in schools took place 40 years ago.
The chairperson of the local Sanco branch, Ralph George Master Push Xolilizwe was the first to speak. He said he wanted to assure the Afrikaans community that the government was not targeting their language.
Kleintjie Strydom from Krugersdorp then began a debate with Master Push who is also an anti-apartheid activist and survivor of the June 16 student uprising, citing the Constitutional Court’s decision made in May, which ruled that the Gauteng Education Department has the final say on admission policies. Strydom cautioned against a repeat of the ‘unfortunate’ events of ’76, this time by the Afrikaans community [protesting against the possible abolition of the use of Afrikaans in our schools].
In his response to Strydom’s 1976 comments, Xolilizwe said: “It hurts us when people want to undervalue the costs of apartheid. It hurts if people want to say let bygones be bygones. You come here and say 1976 was unfortunate: move on. Who has the right to tell us to move on? I don’t want to start a race war. For the last 21 years we have moved out of the arena of conflict to engage in welcoming Nelson Mandela and exiles back home, pursuing Codesa resolutions, setting new state priorities, understanding political power and pursuing nation- building to reconstruct a new society from the ashes of more than 40 years ago.”
Xolilizwe concluded by saying that South Africa is not a society at war with itself or the world now. “The pursuit of violence, destruction of property and desire to kill is not what makes the June 16 generation come alive,” he said.
