As we are in the month of June, we reflect on an incident that took place called the Soweto Uprising. On June 16, 1976, what was intended to be a peaceful protest by learners against an official order, making Afrikaans a compulsory subject in black townships, resulted in the blood of an African child being spilled in the fight for freedom.
Their fight was for the upcoming generation, for the freedom to be taught in their mother tongue. After the Soweto Uprising, that freedom was granted to learners of South Africa but in 2019, the very learners who have access to free education, who are taught in their motherly language, are being sentenced to life imprisonment for brutally killing their teachers.
The big question remains – is this the freedom the 1976 learners fought so hard? In 2019, learners are killing each other on school premises, teachers fear for their own lives and it is often uncertain if and when they will make it back home at the end of the day.
Is this the freedom the 1976 learners sacrificed their lives for? Schools were considered a place where young children are kept safe and schools are meant to be places where children are taught how to grow up into disciplined, educated young boys and girls. Where did it all go wrong – it’s a question intended for South Africans to answer.
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