Burning schools destroys our future

Recently the Harry Bodasingh Primary School acknowledged and thanked the youth of 1976 for their bravery in fighting the apartheid government 40 years ago.
Today we commemorate the role they played in taking part in the Soweto protests of 1976, many of whom were shot by the apartheid police while protesting against the sub-standard of education in black schools in South Africa. Learners were enlightened on the true significance of June 16th. I showed them pictures of the protest and the famous picture of 13-year-old Hector Pieterson – the iconic image of Pieterson’s body being carried by high school student Mbuyisa Makhubo, with his sister, Antoinette Sithole, running alongside.
I also spoke to them of their method of protest being a peaceful one compared to the youth of today. Today’s youth live in a democratic society: they are not subjected to police or defence force cruelty, they have a right to protest yet they burn down and destroy institutions of empowerment at any opportunity without thinking of the consequence it holds for their future.
They engage in drugs and alcohol, destroying their lives before even building them. Burning educational facilities postpones and destroys their chances of making a better life. They must fight peacefully.
Let us follow the youth of 1976 and the great leaders that brought change in our country the right way like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Learners danced and sang the song freedom is coming tomorrow, we then did a candle light and learners shouted in the crowd “Mayibuye, iAfrika, iAfrika Mayibuye” then the entire school closed the program with the national anthem
SHANE HANUMAN
Groutville