We're 8 days away from the 45th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising. On 8 June 1976, two police officers walked into Naledi High School looking for a learner named Enos Ngutshane. Ngutshane was a SASM leader and these officers wanted to take him in for questioning.
Naledi High school students were having none of that. They threw stones at those cops and overturned the police's car. Ngutshane was wanted for writing a letter to the Minister of Bantu administration saying the students did not want to be taught in Afrikaans.
The incident coincidentally took place on anniversary of Naledi High's founding. The school was established on this day in 1963. Ngutshane was never part of the 16 June protests as he was arrested on the 14th for that letter he wrote. Ngutshane was in Matric that year.
Apparently. After this day Rev. Frank Chikane helped him go into hiding for a few days to Phefeni (home is Zola). So it was when he'd come home that he was arrested.
He owes his release from jail to a lie. 9 others had been arrested after 16 June. They didnt know why as they were randomly picked up. So when he appeared in court he used this story as the reason he was detained. After his release he left for Limpopo, then Mozambique, then UK.
I'm sure this story among many will be told next week in greater detail. It's actually sad how this country waits for 16 June to remember the youth movement. There are so many surrounding events & consistent contributions young people made throughout the liberation timeline.
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