Thread by @Sine_Mkhize

Here are some truths about that day that have not been publicized in honor of the legacy of the 600 odd brave lives lost (the media will tell you less than 200) in June 1976. #june16 #YouthDay2020

I once had the pleasure of meeting some of the student leaders of the time. Namely Sibongile Mkhabela, the only woman student leader who was one of the Soweto 11 Accused, who is now CEO of Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.

The "Soweto 11 Accused" are young student leaders who were captured and mostly tortured (electrocuted, testicles twisted with pliers and the latter) in jail for starting the protest.

Even though the leaders of this SSRC were teenagers; the government security forces continued to hunt, detain, interrogate, and in a number of cases, murder them.

Sibongile Mkhabela was one of the accused and she spent 3 years in prison. 3 months of which were in detention in a small dark room, with a broken leg, a weak chest and only a bucket to relieve herself.

I also met Barney Mokgatle, the former Soweto Students Representative Council secretary in 1976.

Here is what I have learned in my conversations with the legends. Stories from the front-line of the march: Pictured- (Tsietsi on the left, Barney in the center)

1. They were scared, they were full of fear. They didn't want to die or go to jail, but the thought of continuing to live and school under oppression was enough to overcome that fear and show strength in their numbers. #june16 #YouthDay2020

Some of the parents were against the protest, for the fear of their children's lives, but many joined in the fight and supported their children by marching aside them.

2. Learning in Afrikaans was not the main reason behind the strike. One can say it was the last straw that sparked young people to get up and say enough is enough! #June16 #YouthDay2020

3. There was one particular incident that gave the students courage. On 8 June 1976, pupils burnt a police vehicle at the schoolyard. The vehicle had visited the school to arrest Enos Ngutshane, regional leader of the South African Students Movement (SASM). #June16 #YouthDay2020

Ngutshane had written a protest letter to the apartheid-era Education Minister, slating Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. The burning of that police vehicle was the first sign of anger and frustration shown by black pupils towards the apartheid system.

The incident gave local pupils courage to stand up against the government. It was a pivotal moment that inspired the June 16 march. Enos was able to escape his arrest on the day but was later arrested and served months in prison.

4. June 16 was a peaceful protest till the Afrikaner police released a dog into the crowd. The students had no choice but to kill the dog to protect themselves. This angered the police and the first shot was fired. #YouthDay2020 #june16

5. Hastings Ndlovu was the first student killed. The young man took the first bullet from a rifle on the left side of his forehead. Hector Petersen was the first student photographed dying in Mbuyisa Makhubu's arms.

6. Some policemen were black and were allies of the state. These were black people who were friends with Afrikaner police. They ate together, laughed together and hunted freedom fighters together. It was a friendship that betrayed the struggle movement for black people.

One specific name, Detective-Sergeant “Orphan” Hlubi Chapi came up quite often. He has been described as the most vicious "black-hating" and disgusting human being to ever walk SA soil. He killed many who fought for freedom and was unapologetic about it. #YouthDay2020 #June16

1978, Jabu Masina a young freedom fighter murdered Hlubi. Hlubi was described by newspapers at the time as being hated by the youth for his role in the 1976 uprising. He was hated so much that when he was brought in hospital, the nurses ignored him, left him on the bench to die.

7. The movement was largely motivated by black consciousness. Steve Biko was a massive motivator in the student's struggle. The elders were running out of steam, Nelson Mandela had been in jail for a while. The elders were quiet and disheartened.

The students wanted it to be known that they loved being Black and that they were also believers of God. Meetings were held in the guise of church, but sometimes disguised as drunken nights in shebeens.

8. The intense emotion and mobilisation that accompanied the burial ceremonies of the victims of June 1976 opened another significant chapter in resistance politics in the country. #june16 #YouthDay2020

For this reason, the Apartheid govt gave specific instructions on how the victims should be buried, demanding that the burials should not be political. These are the circumstances with which the burials of Hector Peterson and the other victims of State violence took place.

Despite state instruction and intervention, from 1976 onwards, police killing victims’ funerals became sites for political mobilisation. In the aftermath of June16, increased harassment by the state forced many kids into exile to join the military wing MK in African countries.

Often gunshots were fired and others killed by the policemen at funerals, leaving some of the students to bury their friends hours later at the grave site after the police had left. #youthday

Tsiesti Mashinini was a great student leader who led the march on the day. He was a bright and popular student at Morris Isaacson High School in Soweto, where he was the head of the debate team and president of the Methodist Youth Guild.