This
South African public holiday, previously known as
Soweto Day, is celebrated every June 16
th.
In 1975, protests started in African schools after a directive issued by the
Bantu Education Department said that
Afrikaans was to be used on an equal basis with
English as a
language of instruction in
secondary schools. The students rumbling voice of
dissent quickly grew after this, but their problem was not entirely with this latest directive, rather with the whole system of
Bantu education which could be characterized by
overcrowding in the
classrooms, and teachers who were
completely incapable of teaching their subjects.
On the 16
th of June 1976, more than 20 000 students from Soweto began to march in protest. This very quickly led to clashes with the police, and over the next few weeks, the ensuing violence claimed the lives of over 700 people (mostly youths), and the destruction of a massive amount of property.
This day is now remembered with a public
holiday, and South Africa's most watched sporting event of the year, the
Comrades marathon is also held on this day.